E.  w.  wathpttouse. 


COKE   OF  NORFOLK 
HIS  FRIENDS.  VOL.  I 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/cokeofnorfolkhis01stir_0 


COKE  OF  NORFOLK 

AND  HIS  FRIENDS 

THE  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  WILLIAM  COKE, 
FIRST  EARL  OF  LEICESTER  OF 
HOLKHAM,  CONTAINING  AN  ACCOUNT 
OF  HIS  ANCESTRY,  SURROUNDINGS, 
PUBLIC  SERVICES  &  PRIVATE 
FRIENDSHIPS,  &  INCLUDING  MANY  UN- 
PUBLISHED LETTERS  FROM  NOTED 
MEN  OF  HIS  DAY,  ENGLISH  &  AMERICAN 
BY  A.  M.  W.  STIRLING      flg      fig      fig  fig 

WITH  20  PHOTOGRAVURE  &  43  OTHER 
ILLUSTRATIONS  REPRODUCED  FROM 
CONTEMPORARY  PORTRAITS,  PRINTS, 
ETC.    TWO  VOLUMES.    VOLUME  ONE 


"/  have  never  received  a  farthing  of  the  public  money- 
my  hands  are  clean" — T.  W.  Coke 


LONDON:  JOHN  LANE  THE  BODLEY  HEAD 
NEW  YORK:   JOHN  LANE  COMPANY  MCMVIII 


WM.  BRENDON  AND  SON,  LTD.,  PRINTERS,  PLYMOUTH 


IN  MEMORY 
OF 

MY  MOTHER, 
THE  GRANDDAUGHTER  OF 
"COKE  OF  NORFOLK." 


PREFACE 


"  ^  I  ^HE  life,  the  almost  patriarchal  life,  of  a  man 
J[  like  Lord  Leicester"  says  a  writer  of  an  obituary 
notice  in  1842,  i  i  extending  as  it  did  over  a  vast 
portion  of  the  most  interesting  and  important  periods  of 
our  history,  is  so  interwoven  with  national  eve?its  in 
which  his  active  mind  could  not  fail  to  take  a  conspicuous 
party  that,  whether  regarded  as  the  Senator,  the  friend 
and  companion  of  those  illustrious  men  who  long  since 
preceded  him  into  the  world  of  spirits,  the  consistent 
advocate  of  all  that  he  deemed  right  and  virtuous  in  high 
places,  or  the  prince  of  landlords  and  farmers,  rich  and 
abundant  matter  is  reserved  for  the  pen  of  his  biographer  ; 
and  these  materials  I  do  earnestly  hope  to  see,  by  suitable 
hands  employed,  worthily  to  honour  the  name  and  hallow 
the  memory  of  Coke  of  Holkham"1 

With  regard  to  the  non-appearance  of  that  expected 
biography,  I  feel  that  a  brief  explanation  is  necessary. 

It  is  still  a  matter  of  comment,  and  in  a  former 
generation  it  was  one  of  constant  surprise  that  no  life 
had  been  published  of  a  man  of  such  world-wide 
reputation  as  "  Coke  of  Norfolk." 

Immediately  after  the  death  of  Lord  Leicester,  or, 


1  Norfolk  Chronicle,  July  9th,  1842. 


viii  PREFACE 

as  he  was  better  known  to  his  generation,  * 1  Coke  of 
Norfolk,"  many  biographies  were  set  in  progress. 
Francis  Blakie,  his  former  steward,  in  a  letter  written 
in  1843,  mentions  that,  to  his  knowledge,  no  less  than 
six  were  then  being  written,  principal  among  which 
were  a  Social  and  Political  Life  by  Mr.  R.  N.  Bacon, 
and  an  Agricultural  Life  by  Mr.  Samuel  Taylor ; 
while  doubtless  many  others  of  which  Blakie  had  not 
heard  were  at  that  time  contemplated  and  attempted. 

These,  however,  were  one  and  all  abandoned  upon 
the  authoritative  Life  being  undertaken  by  Lady 
Leicester's  brother,  Mr.  Thomas  Keppel,  who  alone 
was  granted  access  to  the  necessary  muniments ;  and 
who,  so  the  old  letters  explain,  persuaded  both  Mr. 
Bacon  and  Mr.  Taylor  to  give  up  to  him  the  material 
which  they  had  collected  for  their  own  MSS. 

By  a  curious  chain  of  events,  however,  the  MS.  of 
that  authoritative  Life,  which  occupied  Mr.  Keppel 
many  years,  was  lost  before  publication.  And  to  this, 
primarily,  may  be  attributed  the  fact  that  the  name  of 
Coke  of  Norfolk,  once  a  household  word  both  in  Eng- 
land and  America,  has  sunk  into  an  oblivion  which 
then  it  would  have  been  thought  impossible  could  ever 
befall  it. 

For  Coke  occupied  a  unique  position  in  his  genera- 
tion :  as  a  landowner  he  was  accredited  with  having 
transformed  the  agriculture  of  both  hemispheres  ;  as 
a  politician,  although  his  cordial  dislike  to  politics  pre- 
vented him  ever  filling  any  great  public  office,  yet  he 
remained  for  over  half  a  century  a  prominent  Member 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  during  which  time  his 
contemporaries  stated  that  the  force  of  his  example 


PREFACE  ix 

exercised  a  peculiar  influence  upon  the  political  world 
of  his  day,  and  during  which,  in  recognition  of  his 
services,  he  was  offered  a  peerage  seven  times,  under 
six  different  Prime  Ministers,  while — a  fact  hitherto 
unrecognised  —  he  was  the  prime  mover  in  several 
important  political  crises. 

Unfortunately,  with  Mr.  Keppel's  lost  biography, 
is  lost,  apparently  irrevocably,  much  valuable  corre- 
spondence of  which  Coke  was  known  to  have  been 
possessed,  and  thus  much  also  of  vital  interest  respect- 
ing Coke  himself  and  the  period  in  which  he  lived. 
My  task,  in  consequence,  has  been  rendered  far  more 
difficult.  The  letters  from  Coke,  which  are  still  extant, 
are  business  or  political  letters  only,  which  reveal  little 
more  of  the  intimate  feelings  and  actions  of  the  man 
than  do  the  bare  newspaper  reports  of  his  views  upon 
public  affairs.  He  kept  no  journals  ;  and  the  corre- 
spondence which  was  preserved  by  him  consists,  per- 
force, of  letters  addressed  to  him,  which  express  the 
opinions  of  his  friends  rather  than  his  own.  Still 
more,  his  sons'  remembrance  of  their  father  is  but  dim, 
and  all  others  are  now  dead  who  could  have  aided  me 
by  personal  recollections. 

On  the  other  hand,  my  knowledge  of  his  life  is 
probably  greater  than  that  of  any  one  else  now  living. 
As  the  grandchild  of  Coke's  favourite  daughter,  who 
was  the  inseparable  companion  of  his  prime,  I  have 
heard  all  that  has  survived  orally  respecting  him  from 
an  unimpeachable  source.  For  other  information  and 
anecdotes  I  am  indebted  to  notes  preserved  by 
Mr.  Keppel,  and  for  the  account  of  Coke's  early 
years  I  am  indebted  to  a  fragment  of  the  MS.  of 

A  2 


x  PREFACE 

Mr.  Bacon,  preserved  by  his  granddaughter  —  both 
these  biographers  having  received  their  information 
verbatim  from  Coke  himself,  so  that  the  accuracy  of 
their  facts  can  scarcely  be  called  in  question.  Finally, 
with  regard  to  the  correspondence  of  Coke's  friends 
preserved  in  the  Holkham  muniments,  I  can  only 
quote  Southey's  dictum  that  —  "A  man's  character 
can  more  surely  be  judged  by  those  letters  which  his 
friends  addressed  to  him^  than  by  those  he  himself 
penned"  ;  for  the  former  reveal,  often  with  unconscious 
faithfulness,  the  light  in  which  a  man  was  regarded  by 
those  who  had  personal  knowledge  of  his  character ; 
and  to-day,  by  their  means,  Coke  of  Norfolk  can  still 
be  re-created  for  us  out  of  the  hearts  of  those  who 
knew  him  best. 

In  view  of  this,  however,  it  will  probably  be  objected 
that,  from  the  correspondence  and  the  biographies 
consulted,  I  have  selected  those  letters  and  passages 
only  which  are  panegyrical ;  but  I  wish  to  emphasise 
the  fact  that,  so  far  from  this  being  the  case,  I 
found  the  uniformly  eulogistic  nature  of  the  material 
with  which  I  had  to  deal  to  constitute  in  itself  a  great 
difficulty,  and  I  have  been  forced  in  many  instances  to 
suppress  material  I  should  otherwise  have  made  use 
of,  for  fear  of  wearying  those  who  read  the  Life  of 
Coke  of  Norfolk  by  the  reiteration  of  a  theme  which 
never  appears  to  have  wearied  those  who  witnessed 
that  life. 

With  regard  to  the  correspondence  inserted  in  the 
present  volume,  save  in  a  very  few  instances,  where, 
for  the  sake  of  the  narrative,  it  has  been  necessary 
to  quote  letters  previously  made  public,  all  corres- 


PREFACE  xi 

pondence  introduced  consists  of  private  holograph 
letters  never  before  published.  With  regard  to  the 
anecdotes  related,  I  have  given  those  only  for  which 
I  had  direct  authority ;  where  another  account  is  in 
existence  and  any  discrepancy  exists  between  the  two 
versions,  I  have  given  the  reference  to  that  second 
authority,  while  adhering  to  the  version  which  I,  person- 
ally, had  received.  With  regard  to  the  political  events 
during  the  period  dealt  with,  I  have  touched  on  these 
in  so  far  only  as  the  correspondence,  speeches,  or  anec- 
dotes quoted  necessitated  a  brief  explanation  ;  and  such 
explanation  I  have  given  usually  from  the  standpoint 
of  those  whose  outlook  I  wished  to  depict,  rather  than 
from  that  of  a  less  biassed  posterity. 

In  short,  my  aim  has  been,  before  it  was  too  late,  to 
gather  together  whatever  record  remains  of  a  career  of 
exceptional  usefulness  and  of  surroundings  of  great 
interest ;  and  in  so  far  as  this  was  practicable,  to  tell 
the  character  and  the  life  of  Coke  of  Norfolk  by  the 
lips  of  his  contemporaries. 

The  type  of  Englishman  of  his  day  is  no  longer  to 
be  found  among  us — the  large-hearted,  open-handed 
Whig  prince  of  another  generation,  who  was  a  feudal 
lord  upon  his  own  estate,  who  rode  with  the  foremost, 
drank  with  impunity  what  would  kill  his  descendants, 
spoke  with  a  vehemence  which  would  shock  latter-day 
susceptibilities,  believed  in  God  with  the  same  sincerity 
with  which  he  accepted  a  political  opponent  as  the 
prototype  of  all  evil,  and  fought  for  the  liberty  of  the 
subject  or  the  elevation  of  the  masses  with  a  convic- 
tion that  the  welfare  of  England  was  directly  menaced 
by  the  machinations  of  the  "  Vile  Tories  and  their  Viler 


xii  PREFACE 

heady  Mr.  Pitt"  He  has  given  place  to  a  genera- 
tion grown  more  puny  alike  in  its  convictions,  its 
virtues,  and  its  vices  ;  while  with  him  has  vanished 
the  simplicity  of  aim  and  conduct  which  constituted 
the  charm  of  that  old  world,  and  which  found  its  best 
expression  in  the  devotion  which  could  subsist  between 
class  and  class,  the  veneration  of  the  lower,  the  genuine 
affection  of  the  higher. 

I  can,  however,  only  present  Coke  of  Norfolk  to  the 
present  generation  as  he  was  once  presented  to  the 
men  of  his  day.  On  one  of  the  many  occasions  when 
his  great  friend,  Lord  Albemarle,1  was  called  upon  at 
a  public  meeting  to  propose  Mr.  Coke's  health,  Lord 
Albemarle  rose,  and  inquired  facetiously  from  those 
present — 4  4  Have  I  credit  enough  with  the  company  to 
induce  them  to  fill  a  bumper  to  the  toast  I  am  about  to 
give?"  Being  very  heartily  reassured  on  this  point, 
he  added  with  mock  solemnity — "I  am  then  about  to 
propose  to  you  Mr.  Coke,  our  Member  for  the  County. 
Of  him,  gentlemen,  /  have  not  one  word  to  say  in 
recommendation " ;  and  when  he  saw  the  surprised 
looks  upon  the  faces  of  the  audience,  he  added  em- 
phatically : — 

"  If  a  public  life  devoted  to  the  support  of  the  sound- 
est constitutional  principles,  if  a  private  life  passed  in 
unremitting  assiduity  to  promote  the  welfare  of  society 
and  the  exercise  of  every  social  virtue,  be  not  sufficient 
to  entitle  him  to  your  favour,  his  case  is  hopeless,  for  I 
can  command  no  words  in  which  to  speak  of  him  with- 
out any  recommendation  from  me ;  therefore,  Gentle- 
men, I  give  him  up  to  you,  let  him  speak  for  himself." 

1  William  Charles,  fourth  Earl  of  Albemarle. 


PREFACE  xiii 

In  conclusion,  I  wish  most  cordially  to  thank  all  who 
have  aided  me  by  any  information,  or  by  the  loan  of 
correspondence  or  pictures  which  were  in  their  posses- 
sion ;  especially  the  present  Lord  Leicester,  Mr.  Henry 
Coke,  Col.  Wenman  Coke,  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  Lord 
Townshend,  Lord  Sherborne,  Sir  William  ffolkes, 
Mr.  George  Keppel,  Mr.  Vade-Walpole,  Mr.  James 
Hooper,  Mr.  Walter  Rye,  Mrs.  Steele,  the  owner  of 
Mr.  R.  N.  Bacon's  MS.,  Mr.  Albert  Hartshorne,  and 
Mr.  F.  P.  Barnard. 

A.  M.  W.  S. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    The  Story  of  the  Heritage     .  i 

II.    Thomas  Coke  and  the  Building  of  Holk- 

ham,  1697-1755         .             .  19 

III.  Edward  Coke  and  the  Tragedy  of  Holk- 

ham,  1719-1759        .             .                 .  47 

IV.  The  Birth  and  Boyhood  of  Thomas  William 

Coke,  1754-1767       .             .  67 

V.    The  Grand  Tour,  1771-1774.   ^Etat.  17-20.  91 

VI.    The   Grand  Tour   Continued,    1773 -1774. 

JEtat.  19-20  .  .  .  .115 

VII.    Early  Manhood,  1774-1776.    /Etat.  2.0-2.2.  .  130 

VIII.    Early  Political  Life,  1776-1778.  JEtat. 

22-24         •             •                             •  155 

IX.    Dick  Merryfellow,  1776- 1780.   AZtat.  22-26  191 

X.    Early  Political  Life  Continued,  1 780-1784. 

jd&TAT.  26-30             .              .                  .  201 

XI.    Social  and  Agricultural  Life  .          .       .  232 

XII.    Agricultural  Labours  Continued       .       .  263 

XIII.  The  Result  of  the  Labours  in  England    .  289 

XIV.  The  Result  of  the  Labours  in  America     .  306 

XV 


xvi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XV.    Social  Life  Resumed,  1783-1789.  ^Etat. 

29-35      •  •  ...  320 

XVI.    Dr.  Samuel  Parr     .  ...  354 

XVII.    Political  Events,  1788-1792.    ^Etat.  34-38  369 

XVIII.    Charity,  and  a  Wedding,  1792-1795.  jEtai. 

38-41       .  .  ...  394 

XIX.    A  Dual  Bereavement,  1794- 1800.  ^Etat. 

40-46      .  .  ...  418 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Thomas  William  Coke,  Earl  of  Leicester  .         .  Frontispiece 

After  the  Holkham  picture  by  Gainsborough 

To  face  page 

Sir  Edward  Coke,  Lord  Chief  Justice  in  the  reign  of  James  I  6 
Bridget  Paston,  wife  of  the  Lord  Chief  Justice         .      .  10 

From  an  oil  painting  by  Janson 

Tomb  of  Sir  Edward  Coke,  Lord  Chief  Justice  in  the  reign 
of  James  I  .  .  .  ...  12 

Tomb  of  Bridget  Paston,  wife  of  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  .  14 

Edward  Coke,  father  of  Thomas  Coke,  ist  Earl  of  Leicester  18 

From  a  picture  by  Kneller 

Thomas  Coke,  Earl  of  Leicester,  the  builder  of  Holkham  20 

Statue  of  Diana,  at  Holkham,  said  to  have  belonged  to 
Cicero  .  .  .  .  ...  26 

The  Lady  Margaret  Tufton,  Baroness  Clifford,  wife  of 
the  Earl  of  Leicester  .  .  ...  30 

South  Front  of  Holkham,  showing  exterior  of  the  Saloon 
and  Chapel  Wing      .  .  .  ...  40 

The  Lady  Mary  Coke,  youngest  daughter  of  John,  second 
Duke  of  Argyle  and  Greenwich,  and  wife  of  Edward,  Vis- 
count Coke,  only  son  of  Thomas,  Earl  of  Leicester        .  50 

From  an  engraving  by  J.  McArdell,  after  A.  Ramsay 

Thomas  Coke,  Earl  of  Leicester,  the  Builder  of  Holkham  66 

Bust  by  Chantrey  after  a  model  by  Roubillac 

Exterior  of  entrance  to  Holkham  Park,  showing  the  Alms- 
houses built  by  Margaret,  Lady  Leicester     .  68 

Longford,  the  seat  of  the  Hon.  Henry  Coke   .  70 

Anne,  wife  of  Colonel  Philip  Roberts,  and  sister  to  Thomas 
Coke,  Earl  of  Leicester.    ^Etat.  16,  1715        .  74 

xvii 


xviii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

To  face  page 

Wenman  Coke,  the  father  of  Thomas  William  Coke  .  .  76 
Thomas  William  Coke  .  .  .  ...  82 

From  a  painting  at  Holkham 

Lady  Hunloke  (Margaret  Coke),  wife  of  Sir  Henry  Hun- 
loke,  Bart.    .  .  .  .  ...  92 

From  a  pastel  in  the  possession  of  Sir  Walter  Spencer-Stanhope,  k.c.b. 

The  Rev.  John  Kinderley,  m.a.,  maternal  grandfather  of 
Sir  James  Edward  Smith        .  .  ...  98 

From  a  picture  by  Gainsborough  in  the  possession  of  Francis  Pierrepont  Barnard 

Thomas  William  Coke  in  fancy  dress.    Painted  and  pre- 
sented TO   HIM   BY  COMMAND  OF    LOUISE,  WIFE   OF  CHARLES 

Edward,  the  Young  Pretender  .  .  .  108 

From  an  oil  picture  by  Battoni 

The  Dutton  family  group        .  .  ...  132 

From  a  painting  by  Zoffany  in  the  possession  of  Lord  Sherborne 

The  Electioneering  Chair        .  .  .  .  152 

In  the  possession  of  Mr.  George  Cubitt,  Norwich 

Benedict  Arnold  .  .  .  ...  210 

Mrs.  Coke  (Jane  Dutton)  with  her  two  elder  daughters, 
afterwards  Lady  Andover  and  Lady  Anson    .         .      .  234 

From  a  pastel  in  the  possession  of  Sir  Walter  Spencer-Stanhope,  k.c.b. 

The  Hall  at  Holkham  .  .  ...  238 

Facsimile  of  letter  from  Mrs.  Horatio  Nelson  to  Mrs.  Coke  346 

The  Saloon  at  Holkham  .  .  ...  348 

Rev.  Samuel  Parr,  ll.d.  .  .  ...  354 

From  an  engraving  by  W.  Skelton,  after  J.  J.  Halls,  1813 

Roger  Wilbraham,  m.p.  .  .  ...  388 

Portrait  of  Gainsborough  by  himself.    Painted  whilst  at 
Holkham       .  .  .  .  ...  408 

In  the  possession  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester 

The  Honble.  Mrs.  Charles  James  Fox    .  ...  416 

From  a  portrait  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  in  the  possession  of  the  Honble.  Stephen 
Powys,  of  St.  Ann's  Hill,  Chertsey 

Mrs.  Coke  (Jane  Dutton)  .  .  ...  446 

From  a  picture  by  Barber 


COKE  OF  NORFOLK 
AND  HIS  FRIENDS 


/ 


COKE  OF  NORFOLK 
AND  HIS  FRIENDS 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  STORY  OF  THE  HERITAGE 

IN  reviewing  the  life  of  Thomas  William  Coke, 
better  known  to  his  generation  as  "  Coke  of 
Norfolk,"  it  is  well  to  glance  briefly  at  the  story 
of  his  heritage,  which  is  of  unusual  interest, 
and  at  the  circumstances  which  served  to  mould  a 
character  of  exceptionally  strong  individuality. 

The  family  of  Coe,  or  Coke,  is  said  to  be  of  very 
ancient  origin ;  but  genealogists  are  content  with 
carrying  back  the  family  records  to  the  year  1206, 
when  Camden  assigns  its  foundation  to  William  Coke 
of  Dodington  (Diddlington),  who  held  the  lordship  of 
South  Burgh,  and  who  is  mentioned  in  a  deed  of  that 
year.  He  was  the  ancestor,  by  his  wife  Felice,  of  one 
Robert  Coke  of  Sparham,  whose  son  Robert,  a  barrister 
of  great  practice  and  a  Bencher  of  Lincoln's  Inn,  in 
the  year  1554,  became  possessed  of  the  Manor  of 
Burghwood,  in  Mileham  and  Tittleshall,  by  purchase 
from  the  Townshend  family. 
1.— B 


2  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1550 
The  date  of  the  conveyance  by  Sir  Roger  Townshend 
to  Robert  Coke  was  6  April,  anno  5  Edward  VI  ;  but 
there  is  no  doubt  that  Robert  was  resident  at  Mile- 
ham  four  years  earlier,  either  as  a  tenant  or  upon  land 
acquired  in  some  other  manner ;  for  there  in  February, 
1550,  his  illustrious  son,  Edward,  destined  to  be  the 
great  lawgiver  of  England  and  America,  was  born. 

In  a  wood  near  to  Tittleshall  are  to  be  seen  the  foun- 
dations of  a  building  surrounded  by  a  square  moat 
which  was  probably  the  site  of  the  ancient  Manor 
House  ;  yet  whether  this  was  a  ruin  or  was  still  habit- 
able at  the  time  of  Robert  Coke's  purchase  is  not 
known.  A  modern  farm-house  near  the  road  is  errone- 
ously pointed  out  as  the  birthplace  of  the  great  Judge, 
but  it  has  certainly  no  claim  to  such  a  distinction  ; 
though  it  is  not  unlikely  that,  after  his  purchase  of  the 
land,  Robert  Coke  erected  his  residence  upon  or  near 
the  site  now  occupied  by  this  farm.  An  ancient  gate- 
way is  mentioned  by  Blomefield  as  existing  there  in 
his  time,  but  of  this  no  vestige  now  remains ;  only  in 
one  of  the  windows  of  the  present  house  are  to  be  seen 
inserted  a  portion  of  the  Coke  coat  of  arms,  which 
must  have  been  taken  from  the  original  dwelling  in- 
habited by  Robert  Coke. 

The  great  man  who  was  born  in  this  quiet,  unfre- 
quented spot  came  into  the  world  with  undue  haste  by 
the  fireside  of  his  mother's  parlour  at  Mileham.  In 
old  age  he  was  always  fond  of  relating  this,  his  first 
exploit,  and  used  to  tell  how,  from  the  extraordinary 
energy  which  he  displayed  on  that  occasion,  great 
expectations  were  formed  of  his  future  career.  That 
these  expectations  were  amply  fulfilled  is  well  known 


1593]      THE  STORY  OF  THE  HERITAGE 


to  posterity  ;  but  in  an  old  account  of  Sir  Edward's 
career  his  principal  achievements  and  sayings  are  thus 
quaintly  summarised.1 

After  showing  how  he  was  descended  from  Sir 
Thomas  Coke  of  Huntley  (who  was  himself  of  ancient 
lineage,  and  who  in  the  year  1362,  the  36th  of  Edward 
III,  was  "Lord  of  Dudlington,  Foulden,  etc."),  it  states 
how  Edward  Coke  attended  the  Grammar  School  at 
Norwich  at  the  age  of  ten,  and  how  afterwards  he 
was — 

* ' Bred  in  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  and  Cliffords 
Inn  and  the  Inner  Temple,  London  ;  and  after  six 
years  was  called  to  the  Bar.  In  his  younger  years  he 
was  Recorder  of  the  Cities  of  Norwich  and  London  ; 
then  Solicitor-General  to  Queen  Elizabeth  ;  and  in 
1593,  the  35th  of  her  Reign,  was  Speaker  to  the 
House  of  Commons. 

"  He  was  afterwards  Attorney-General  to  that 
Queen,  as  also  to  her  successor,  James  I,  and  by 
him  was  made  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  both  Benches 
successively,  in  which  he  was  a  just  and  exemplary 
Judge. 

"  He  was  likewise  one  of  the  Privy  Council  to  that 
King  and  Ann  his  Queen  ;  and  Chief  Justice  in  Eyre 
of  all  her  Forests,  Chaces,  Parks,  etc  :  and  was  also 
Recorder  of  the  City  of  Coventry,  and  High  Steward 
of  the  University  of  Cambridge  :  and  by  King  James 
was  Knighted. 

"  He  was  a  person  of  admirable  Parts,  excellent  in 
all  learning,  and  especially  in  the  Knowledge  and 
Practice  of  the  Municipal  Laws  of  this  Kingdom  : 
having  a  deep  Judgment,  faithful  Memory,  and  active 
Fancy  :  and  the  Jewel  of  his  Mind  was  put  in  a  fair 
Case,  a  beautiful  Body,  with  a  comely  Countenance  : 
a  Case  which  he  did  wipe  and  keep  clean :  he  delighted 
in  good  Clothes,  being  well  worn;  being  wont  to  say 


Quoted  in  the  British  Compendium  for  the  year  1746. 


4     COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  bS93 

that  the  outward  neatness  of  our  Bodies  might  be  an 
incentive  to  the  purity  of  our  Souls. 

"He  was  a  famous  Pleader  and  a  sound  Councillor; 
for  none  ever  applied  himself  closer  to  the  Common 
Law,  nor  ever  understood  it  better  ;  of  which  he  con- 
vinced England  by  his  excellent  Administration  for 
many  years  together  whilst  Attorney-General,  and 
by  executing  the  office  of  Lord  Chief  Justice  with 
great  wisdom  and  prudence.  Nor  did  he  give  less 
proofs  of  his  Abilities  in  his  excellent  Reports  and 
Commentaries  on  our  Law ;  whereby  he  hath  greatly 
obliged  both  his  own  Age  and  Posterity. 

"For  three  Things  he  would  give  God  solemn 
Thanks :  that  he  never  gave  his  Body  to  Physic,  his 
Heart  to  Cruelty,  nor  his  Hand  to  Corruption. 

"In  three  Things  he  much  applauded  his  own 
Success  :  in  his  fair  fortune  of  £30,000  by  his  Wife, 
in  his  happy  study  of  the  Laws,  and  in  his  free 
coming  by  all  his  Offices,  Nec  prece  nec  pretio. 
Neither  begging  nor  bribing  for  Preferment. 

"He  always  declined  Circumlocutions,  and  com- 
mended Moderation ;  saying,  If  a  River  swelleth 
beyond  its  Banks,  it  loseth  its  own  Channel. 

"If  an  adverse  Party  crossed  him,  he  would 
patiently  reply — If  another  punish  me,  I  will  not 
punish  myself. 

"He  would  never  privately  retract  what  he  had 
publicly  adjudged  ;  professing  that  he  was  a  Judge 
in  a  Court,  not  in  a  Chamber. 

"He  was  wont  to  say  That  no  wise  Man  should 
do  that  in  Prosperity,  whereof  he  would  repent  in 
Adversity. 

"He  gave  for  his  Motto — Prudens  qui patiens,  and 
his  Practice  was  accordingly. 

"In  his  private  life  he  triumphed  in  his  Innocence, 
that  he  had  done  nothing  illegally,  calling  to  mind 
the  Motto  which  he  gave  in  his  Rings  when  made 
Serjeant,  Lex  est  tutissima  Cassis,  The  Law  is  the 
safest  Helmet. 

"And  now  he  had  leisure  to  peruse  thirty  books, 
written  with  his  own  Hand,  pleasing  himself  most 


i633]      THE  STORY  OF  THE  HERITAGE 


5 


with  a  Manual,  which  he  called  his  Vade  Mecum, 
containing  the  Remarkables  of  his  Life.  His  most 
learned  and  laborious  works  in  the  Laws  will  last,  to 
be  admired  by  his  judicious  Posterity,  to  the  end  of 
Time. 

"  He  constantly  had  Prayers  in  his  own  House, 
and  relieved  the  Poor  with  his  constant  Alms. 

"The  Foundation  of  the  Charter  House  had  been 
ruined  before  it  was  raised  and  crushed  by  some 
Courtiers  in  the  Beginning  had  not  his  great  Care 
preserved  it.1  The  Free  School  at  Thetford  was  sup- 
ported by  his  Assistance  and  he  founded  a  School  at 
his  own  Cost  at  Godwich,  in  Norfolk.  Dr.  Whitgift 
(afterwards  Archbishop  of  Canterbury)  was  his  Tutor, 
who  sent  him,  when  he  was  the  Queen's  Attorney,  a 
New  Testament  with  this  Message  :  He  had  studied 
Common  Law  enough  ;  let  him  hereafter  study  the 
Law  of  God.  He  died  on  3rd  September,  1633,  at 
Stoke  Pogis,  in  the  County  of  Berks,  in  the  83rd 
year  of  his  Age,  devoutly  resigning  his  last  Breath 
with  these  Words,  Thy  Kingdom  Come  !  Thy  Will 
be  done  ! " 

We  learn  besides  that  Sir  Edward  was  averse  from 
ostentation,  was  temperate,  simple  and  methodical  in 
his  habits,  as  he  was  neat  in  his  dress  and  fastidious 
respecting  the  cleanliness  of  his  person.  It  was  his 
custom  to  u  Measure  out  his  time  at  regular  hours  ;  to 
retire  to  rest  at  nine  o'clock,  and  to  rise  at  three  in  the 
morning."2  His  physique  was  vigorous  ;  his  air  and 
manner  were  grave  and  full  of  dignity. 

The  one  great  stain  upon  his  memory  during  the 
earlier  days  of  his  career,  his  method  of  brow-beating 

1  Coke  was  one  of  the  Governors  of  the  Charter  House  named  by 
Mr.  Sutton,  and  he  sustained  the  letters  patent  of  the  Crown  against 
Lord  Bacon  and  the  other  counsel  who  endeavoured  to  overthrow  them 
on  behalf  of  the  heir-at-law  of  Mr.  Sutton. 

2  Roger  Coke's  Detection,  ed.  1696,  p.  49. 


6     COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1601 


and  insulting  the  prisoners  brought  up  before  him 
for  trial — a  method  certainly  not  in  accordance  with 
modern  ideas  either  of  the  dignity  of  a  judge  or  the 
impartiality  of  the  law — appears  to  have  been  due  to 
an  ungovernable  excitability  and  acerbity  of  temper, 
which,  combined  with  a  coarse  bluntness  of  speech,  led 
him  to  give  violent  expression  to  the  belief  of  the 
moment.  Yet,  although  he  won  well-deserved  oppro- 
brium when  Attorney-General  from  his  manner  of 
conducting  the  trials  of  Essex,  Raleigh  and  Southamp- 
ton, it  is  said  that  this  excitability  left  him  in  later 
years,  and  we  find  that,  although  a  harsh  foe,  he 
could  also  be  a  generous  one  ;  for  instance,  having  on 
one  occasion  uttered  a  slander  against  Raleigh's 
religion,  and  having  subsequently  become  convinced 
of  his  own  error  in  this  matter,  he  heartily  and  in  open 
Court  retracted  his  previous  assertion  with  every  ap- 
pearance of  honest  satisfaction.1 

1  State  Trials,  Vol.  II,  p.  38. 

With  regard  to  Raleigh,  it  appears  possible  that  Sir  Edward  may 
have  had  greater  reason  to  suspect  the  honesty  of  the  prisoner  than  was 
apparent  to  the  general  public. 

When  the  Earl  of  Essex  was  executed  on  Tower  Hill,  25th  February, 
1 60 1,  for  a  mad  plot  which  was  declared  treasonable,  a  number  of  his 
adherents,  including  Sir  Ed.  Baynham,  were  tried  the  same  day  and 
condemned  to  death.  The  report  was  that  Sir  W.  Raleigh  subsequently 
set  himself  to  obtain  the  pardon  of  some  of  the  condemned,  in  considera- 
tion of  receiving  from  them  large  sums  of  money.  On  July  29th, 
Baynham  was  still  in  the  King's  Bench  Prison,  condemned  to  death  ;  a 
few  days  later  he  was  discharged  by  a  warrant  from  the  Privy  Council  ; 
he  went  abroad  and  lived  many  years  afterwards. 

That  Raleigh  was  implicated  in  his  release  appears  to  be  proved  by 
the  following  curious  letter  from  him  to  Sir  E.  Coke,  which  is  preserved 
at  Holkham  : — 

LETTER  OF  SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH  TO  SIR  EDWARD  COKE 

{Attorney-General  from  loth  April,  1594,  till  30th  June,  1606). 
"Mr.  Aturney  it  would  greatly  expedite  my  business  for  baynam  if 
you  would  be  pleas  to  write  me  a  few  lines  to  this  effect,  yl.  wheras 


SIR  EDWARD  COKE 
Lord  Chief  Justice  in  the  Reign  of  James  I 


i6oi]      THE  STORY  OF  THE  HERITAGE  7 

But  whatever  the  errors  of  mood  and  bearing  of 
which  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  was  guilty,  it  was  not 
only  as  the  greatest  lawyer  that  England  ever  produced 
that  he  "  greatly  obliged  his  own  Age  and  Posterity." 
It  was  in  his  fearless  denunciation  of  abuses,  in  his 
unflinching  honesty  and  integrity  of  purpose  that  he 
compels  the  reverence  of  all  ages.  He  was  no  time- 
server  and  no  respecter  of  persons.  Where  he  believed 
in  the  justice  of  his  opinion,  he  defied  King  and  Court 
to  his  own  disadvantage.  He  is  accredited  with  having 
been  the  first  Judge  who  had  the  insight  to  see  and  the 
moral  courage  to  denounce  all  torturing  of  prisoners 
as  illegal  and  senseless,  which  alone  might  endear  his 
name  to  posterity.  But  to  appreciate  his  character  at 
its  true  worth,  it  is  necessary  to  realise  the  age  in  which 
he  lived.  The  Judges  held  their  offices  merely  at 
the  King's  pleasure  ;  they  were  considered  practically 
bound  to  justify  the  acts  of  the  Crown.  The  royal 
favour  meant  wealth  and  promotion,  its  forfeiture  ruin 
and  imprisonment,  if  not  actual  loss  of  life.  Under 
such  conditions,  political  morality  was  well-nigh  im- 

I  entreated  you  to  know  whether  her  majesyte  might  reape  any  pfitt  by 
Baynam's  deathe,  or  wher  [whether]  baynam  weare  farther  in  ay 
[any]  of  thes  treasons  then  the  comon  sort  of  yc.  L.  of  Essex  servants 
and  followers,  you  will  answer  yl.  you  have  looked  into  his  estate  and 
have  delivered  your  knowledge.  For  the  land  in  Essex  you  shall  order 
it  as  it  shall  pleas  you. 

Your   ost  assured 

loving-  friend 

W.  Raleigh. 

Dered  House  this  mday   oring  [Monday  morning]. 
(Endorsed) 

To  the  right  worshipfull 

Mr.  Aturney  generall." 

Raleigh  elsewhere   calls  Durham  House — Derum  House.  Queen 
Elizabeth  had  commanded  the  use  thereof  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 


8     COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1616 

practicable,  its  pursuit  met  with  the  condemnation 
meted  out  to  the  disgrace  which  it  inevitably  involved. 
Yet  in  those  days  of  servile  submission  to  the  kingly 
prerogative,  Coke  maintained  with  a  sturdy  defiance 
that  no  Royal  Proclamation  can  make  that  an  offence 
which  was  not  an  offence  before.  With  unflinching 
courage  he  defended  the  judicial  authority  against 
James  I.  When  a  test  case  was  propounded  by  the 
King,  and  when  all  the  Judges  acquiesced  abjectly  in 
the  royal  will,  Coke,  resolved  to  lose  the  seals  rather 
than  compromise  his  integrity,  held  his  ground,  alone 
and  undaunted,  in  defence  of  what  he  considered 
right,  refusing  to  give  other  answer  than  that  "when 
the  case  occurred  he  would  do  his  duty"  Dismissed,  but 
not  disgraced,  he  upheld  the  privileges  of  the  House  of 
Commons  until  he  was  committed  to  the  Tower  for  six 
years.  Early  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I  he  was  one  of 
the  most  conspicuous  of  Parliamentary  leaders.  At 
the  age  of  seventy-five,  "an  age  when  the  wealthy  of 
his  time  of  life  are  unusually  turned  opponents  of 
change,  he  was  leading  on  the  Reformers  of  his  day 
with  all  the  gallant  buoyancy  of  youth.  His  love  of 
liberty  and  even-handed  justice  shone  as  bright  as  it 
did  twenty  years  previously,  when  he  first  ascended  the 
Seat  of  Judgment.  He  was  still  labouring  for  his 
country  with  an  energy  that  never  flagged  and  an 
enthusiasm  not  yet  exhausted,"1  and  his  last  act  was 
proposing  and  framing  the  famous  Petition  of  Right, 
though  he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-three,  before  the 
great  struggle  had  come  to  a  head. 

In  brief,  Coke  not  only  triumphed  in  the  worldly 

1  Johnson's  Life  of  Sir  Edward  Coke,  Vol.  II,  p.  42. 


i632]      THE  STORY  OF  THE  HERITAGE  9 

advantage  which  he  sought,  through  sheer  determina- 
tion and  stability  of  character,  but  in  the  most  crucial 
situations  he  acted  with  a  keenness  of  insight  far  in 
advance  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  and  with  a  stub- 
bornness of  virtue  which  created  an  epoch  in  legal  and 
Parliamentary  history. 

And,  making  all  due  allowance  for  the  difference  of 
time  and  circumstance,  we  shall  see  later  how  in  the 
independence  of  his  outlook,  in  his  hatred  of  ostenta- 
tion, in  his  sturdy  pertinacity  of  character,  in  his  very 
axioms  of  conduct,  above  all,  in  his  opposition  to  the 
exercise  of  the  Royal  Prerogative,  together  with  the  un- 
flinching integrity  and  sincerity  of  purpose  for  which 
he  commands  admiration,  we  recognise  the  ruling 
characteristics  of  his  descendant,  Thomas  William 
Coke,  who  was  born  into  the  world  just  over  two 
centuries  later  than  himself. 

Yet  the  strange  trickery  of  this  law  of  re-creation 
baffles  while  it  compels  attention.  For  the  erratic 
impulse  which  will  thus  obliterate  similitude  in  a  near 
generation  to  produce  it  in  a  remote  descendant ;  which, 
in  succeeding  generations,  from  clay  will  evolve  gold, 
and  again  from  gold  will  evolve  clay  ;  or  which  will 
revive  both  with  a  fine  disregard  of  the  proportions  in 
which  they  were  existent  in  the  type  reverted  to — all 
this  we  shall  see,  too,  in  the  varying  phases  through 
which  the  marked  individuality  of  Sir  Edward  stamped 
itself  upon  his  posterity. 

In  his  private  life,  Sir  Edward  was  fated  to  experi- 
ence somewhat  variable  conditions.  His  first  wife  was 
Bridget  Paston,  a  descendant  of  Judge  Paston,  who  sat 
on  the  Bench  of  Common  Pleas  with  Judge  Littleton, 


io    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1633 

whose  renowned  commentator  Coke   became.  The 
daughter  and  co-heir  of  John  Paston  of  Huntingfield 
Hall,  Suffolk,  and  later  of  Barningham  Hall,  Norfolk, 
she  brought  her  husband  not  only  honours  and  pro- 
motion, but  a  fortune  of  £30,000,  and  bore  him  a 
family  of  ten  children,  seven  sons  and  three  daughters, 
some  of  whom  died  in  infancy.1    At  Holkham  there  is 
a  life-sized  picture  of  her,  probably  painted  soon  after 
her  marriage,  a  companion  picture  to  one  of  her 
husband  in  his  crimson  robes.    Her  pale  blonde  hair, 
strung  with  pearls,  is  turned  back  from  her  handsome 
young  face  ;  her  tightly-laced  dress  of  blue  and  silver 
is  surmounted  by  an  Elizabethan  ruff  which  leaves 
revealed  a  neck  of  snowy  whiteness  ;  while  her  soft 
eyes,  bright  colouring  and  singularly  gentle  expres- 
sion, corroborate  the  report  of  her  beauty  and  her 
amiability  which  has  descended  to  posterity.  Her 
marriage  with  Sir  Edward  was  one  of  mutual  affection, 
and  the  rough,  stern  law-giver  appears  to  have  been 
deeply  attached  to  his  gentle  wife.     She,  for  her 
part,  appears  to  have  been  a  strict  economist  and 
excellent  housekeeper.    Her  house-book  for  the  years 
1596-7,  kept   in   her  own  hand,   is  still  preserved 
at   Holkham,  and  shows  that  her  husband's  table 
was  substantially,  but  by  no  means  luxuriously,  pro- 
vided. 

With  Sir  Edward's  second  marriage  we  need  not 
deal,  but  it  is  said  to  have  been  a  strange  contrast  to 

1  The  British  Encyclopedia  asserts  that  she  died  six  months  after  her 
marriage  !  The  Paston  family  is  now  extinct ;  the  last  female  descen- 
dant was  Lady  Bedingfield,  wife  of  Sir  Henry  Bedingfield,  of  Oxburgh, 
Norfolk. 


i633]  THE  STORY  OF  THE  HERITAGE  n 
the  happiness  of  his  first.1  His  harsh  treatment  of 
Frances,  one  of  his  two  daughters  by  this  marriage,  is 
also  a  matter  of  history— how  he,  with  his  armed  sons, 
dragged  her  forcibly  from  her  mother's  care,  and 
kept  her  under  lock  and  key  in  his  house  at  Stoke 
Pogis  until  he  had  insisted  on  her  ill-fated  marriage  to 
Sir  John  Villiers,  brother  to  the  favourite  Buckingham.2 
Later,  however,  the  unhappy  Frances  is  said  to  have 
been  the  comfort  of  her  father's  declining  years,  until 
the  great  Chief  Justice  died  in  1633,  with,  we  are  told, 
"  his  love  of  equity  and  religion  attending  him  to  the 
last." 

His  body  was  then  brought  back  to  his  birthplace 
in  Norfolk,  to  be  buried  in  the  quiet  little  church  of 
Tittleshall,  where  his  mother  had  been  interred  in  the 
year  1569.    There,  too,  reposed  the  remains  of  the 

1  He  married  secondly  Lady  Elizabeth  Hatton,  relict  of  Sir  Chris- 
topher Hatton,  daughter  of  Thomas,  second  Earl  of  Burleigh,  and 
granddaughter  of  the  great  Cecil,  a  Court  beauty.  The  fact  that 
Bacon  was  also  a  rival  for  her  hand  made  Coke  more  keen  in  his 
suit. 

2  In  acting  thus,  Coke  was  accused  of  having  gone  counter  to  his 
own  judgment  in  a  case  in  which  he  had  emulated  the  wisdom  of  Solo- 
mon. In  those  days  swans  were  looked  upon  as  a  valuable  property, 
and  a  swan-owner  had  brought  an  action  against  another  swan-owner 
to  assert  his  right  to  halve  the  cygnets  of  a  brood.  He  proved  by  the 
swan  marks  that  though  one  parent  belonged  to  the  rival  claimant,  the 
other  belonged  to  himself,  and  suggested  a  compromise.  The  case  was 
taken  before  the  Lord  Chief  Justice.  Sir  Edward,  after  deliberation, 
based  his  decision  on  the  high  moral  and  domestic  character  of  swans, 
evidence  of  which  was  adduced  to  his  complete  satisfaction.  "  The 
swan,"  he  pronounced,  "is  the  husband  of  one  wife,  and  remains  so 
till  death.  Consequently  the  children  are  of  undeniable  parentage  "  ; 
and  as  the  two  parents  in  the  case  under  consideration,  being  the 
property  of  different  owners,  lived  apart,  he  decided  that  the  offspring 
sprung  from  the  marriage  should  be  divided  between  their  respective 
homes,  the  odd  cygnet,  if  there  was  one,  belonging  to  the  residence  of  the 
hen  swan. 


12    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1632 

gentle  and  beloved  Bridget,  whose  effigy,  unlike  the 
radiant  beauty  pictured  at  Holkham,  shows  a  soberly 
clad  matron,  her  head  shrouded  in  a  coif,  and  her  eight 
surviving  children  kneeling  at  her  feet.  Near  by  her 
tomb  there  soon  arose  a  monument  of  her  husband, 
which  may  be  seen  to-day  as  fresh  and  unblemished 
as  if  the  hand  of  the  chiseller  had  only  just  left  it. 
The  name  of  Coke  as  a  defender  of  the  people's 
liberties  ensured  immunity  from  the  depredations 
of  the  Roundheads  ;  and  thus  his  tomb  remains  to  the 
present  one  of  the  few  which  no  mutilation  has  de- 
faced, and  which  Time  itself  seems  to  have  spared. 

Beneath  a  canopy  of  alabaster,  sculptured  in  marble 
and  supported  by  a  long-tasselled  cushion,  Coke's 
effigy  lies  in  judge's  robes  with  his  chain  of  office 
about  his  neck.  His  shapely  hands  are  raised,  palm 
to  palm  ;  on  his  head  is  a  tight-fitting  cap,  round  his 
neck  the  stiff  Elizabethan  ruff,  on  his  upturned  feet 
are  square-toed  shoes  with  large  rosettes.  That  "fair 
case,  a  beautiful  body  with  a  comely  countenance,"  has 
been  worthily  perpetuated  for  posterity ;  his  marble 
face  with  its  Grecian  nose  and  fine  regularity  of  outline 
still  testifies  to  the  classical  perfection  of  his  features. 
Over  his  head  two  tablets  record  his  high  honours  and 
his  great  virtues.  At  the  base  of  the  tomb  another 
tablet  sets  forth  the  fact  that  "  He  crowned  a  pious  life 
with  a  pious  departure, "  concluding  with  those  last  words 
which  he  breathed  on  earth  at  the  close  of  his  stirring, 
chequered  career  :  "Thy  Kingdom  come,  Thy  will  be 
done  !  "  to  which  the  sculptor  has  added — 

u  Learne,  Reader,  to  live  so,  that  thou  may'st  so 
dye." 


TOMB  OF  SIR  EDWARD  COKE,   LORD  CHIEF  JUSTICE  IN  THE  REIGN  OF 
JAMES  1ST 


i659]      THE  STORY  OF  THE  HERITAGE  13 

Throughout  his  life  Sir  Edward's  great  aim  had 
been  the  acquisition  of  landed  property.  Partly  through 
his  great  professional  success,  partly  through  the  large 
fortunes  brought  him  by  both  his  wives,  he  was  enabled 
to  purchase  estates  all  over  England,  and  had  large 
properties  in  Hertfordshire,  Suffolk,  Berkshire,  and 
the  present  neighbourhood  of  Manchester,  while  in 
Norfolk  alone  he  acquired  sixty  manors.  It  is  said 
that  once  James  I,  who  had  watched  Coke's  growing 
power  with  great  dissatisfaction,  became  seriously 
alarmed  at  the  monopoly  which  he  was  creating,  and 
informed  him  angrily  that  he  "  had  already  as  much  land 
as  a  subject  ought  to  possess !"  Coke  thereupon  had  pro- 
fessed his  willingness  to  be  content  if  he  might  add  but 
u one  more  acre  "  to  his  estates.  This  modest  request  the 
Crown  could  not  refuse,  and  Coke  immediately  pur- 
chased the  great  estate  of  Castleacre,1  which  was  said 
to  be  as  large  as  all  the  rest  of  his  Norfolk  lands  put 
together. 

At  the  death  of  the  Lord  Chief  Justice,  therefore, 
each  of  his  sons  inherited  vast  estates,  and  each,  in 
turn,  appears  to  have  followed  his  father's  example, 
and  wedded  a  wife  of  noble  birth,  fair  looks  and 
princely  fortune.  It  was  in  this  fashion  that  John, 
the  fourth  son  of  Sir  Edward — partly  through  pur- 
chase, partly  through  marriage  with  the  heiress  of  the 
property — became  possessed  of  the  estate  of  Holkham. 

There  are  many  theories  respecting  the  origin  of  the 
name  Holkham,  but  the  most  picturesque  relates  how 

1  Already  a  ruin  in  1647.  The  Duke  of  Norfolk  disposed  of  it  to 
Thomas  Gresham,  who  had  purchased  the  lordship  of  Castleacre  town 
from  the  Earl  of  Arundel. 


14  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1659 
this  wild,  bleak  sea-coast  was  formerly  one  of  the 
estates  of  Annas,  under-king  of  the  East-Angles,  de- 
scribed by  Bede  as  a  "  truly  religious  man,"  and  slain 
by  the  pagan  king,  Penda,  a.d.  654.  Annas  was  the 
father  of  four  daughters,  who  all  inherited  the  piety 
of  their  parent,  Sexburga,  Ethelburga,  Etheldreda, 
and  Withburga.  This  last  and  youngest  child  was 
sent  to  be  nursed  in  the  village  of  Holkham,  which 
village,  even  during  her  childhood,  bore  its  present 
name,  and  is  reported  to  have  acquired  it  from  her 
saintly  presence,  Hoeligham — Holy  Home,  It  is,  how- 
ever, certain  that  out  of  compliment  to  her  it  was  for 
some  years  called  Withburgstowe,  or  the  place  of 
Withburga ;  though  it  afterwards  recovered  that 
earlier  name,  which  it  still  retains. 

All  the  young  days  of  Withburga's  life  were  spent 
at  Holkham,  and  subsequently  so  many  curious 
legends  were  connected  with  her,  that  the  scene  where 
her  childhood  had  been  passed  was  held  peculiarly 
sacred.  As  a  maiden  she  founded  a  Benedictine 
Nunnery  at  Dereham,  said  to  have  been  so  poor  at  its 
institution  that,  through  the  holy  prioress's  prayers, 
the  nuns  were  miraculously  supported  by  two  milch 
does  which  came  daily  to  a  certain  bridge  to  be  milked, 
till  the  bailiff  of  the  town,  instigated  by  the  devil,  took 
bow  and  arrows  and  slew  them.  He  was  promptly 
smitten  with  jaundice  and  died  miserably ;  while,  in 
proof  of  this  miracle,  not  only  does  the  town  bear  the 
name  of  Deer-ham  to  this  day,  but,  still  to  be  seen  in 
the  churchyard,  is  the  sacred  well  which,  some  genera- 
tions later,  sprang  from  Saint  Withburga's  grave  after 
her  incorruptible  body  had  been  stolen  from  its  shrine 


i659]  THE  STORY  OF  THE  HERITAGE  15 
by  the  monks  of  Ely.  Recognising  that  for  three 
hundred  years  Dereham  had  found  the  royal  corpse 
a  substantial  source  of  profit  owing  to  the  pilgrims 
who  came  from  all  parts  of  the  world  to  visit  it,  the 
rapacious  monks  appropriated  the  precious  relic,  and 
interred  it  near  Withburga's  three  royal  sisters  in  Ely 
Cathedral,  a.d.  947. 

The  church  in  the  park  at  Holkham,  built  in  memory 
of  the  famous  Princess,  is  still  dedicated  to  Saint 
Withburga ;  and,  a  celebrated  sea-mark,  it  stands  east 
of  the  village,  upon  a  hill  which  seems  to  have  served 
as  a  watch-tower.  Another  hill  at  a  little  distance  was 
probably  a  large  tumulus,  since  human  bones  and 
pieces  of  armour  have  been  found  in  digging  there. 

In  the  reign  of  Henry  III,  a  family  called  the  de 
Holkhams  appears  to  have  had  an  interest  in  the  parish, 
though  little  trace  of  them  remains  beyond  the  bare 
record  of  their  name.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  II, 
however,  Holkham  must  have  been  a  port  of  some 
consequence,  for  in  131 1  the  King  sent  his  writ  to  this 
town,  among  other  recognised  seaports,  to  furnish  one 
ship  to  assist  in  transporting  his  army  from  Dublin  to 
Scotland.  Later,  Holkham  came  into  the  possession 
of  the  Boleyns  of  Blickling.  Sir  W.  Boleyn,  second 
son  of  Sir  Geoffry  Boleyn,  Lord  Mayor  of  London, 
died  the  owner  of  it  in  1505  ;  but  subsequently  his 
family  sold  it,  and,  with  Burgh  Hall,  it  passed  into 
the  possession  of  "the  Lady  Gresham,"  widow  of  Sir 
Thomas  Gresham,  member  of  a  noted  Norfolk  family, 
since  extinct. 

This  widow,  Lady  Anne  Gresham,  is  the  first  men- 
tioned as  holding  the  Manor  of  Holkham  and  Burgh 


16  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1659 
Hall ;  and  is  further  reported  to  have  possessed  two 
flocks  of  sheep,  one  called  the  Holkham  Burgh  flock, 
containing  457  sheep,  and  the  other,  the  Southouse 
flock,  containing  460  sheep.  During  the  reign  of 
James  I,  William  Wheatley,  of  Hill  Hall,  Norfolk, 
purchased  from  her  family  Holkham  Manor  and  its 
surrounding  property,  of  which  his  granddaughter, 
Merial,  eventually  became  heiress,  and  which,  upon 
her  marriage  to  John  Coke,  thus  passed  into  the 
possession  of  the  latter.  There  were,  however,  other 
lands  in  the  parish  of  which  Merial  Wheatley  was  not 
the  owner,  and  John  Coke,  who  seems  to  have  in- 
herited his  father's  passion  for  acquiring  property,  set 
himself  to  gain  possession  of  these.  By  slow  degrees 
he  succeeded.  "  Messuages,  land  tenements,  and 
marshes "  were  purchased  by  him,  till,  in  the  year 
1659,  tne  final  transference  of  property  took  place, 
and  he  became  sole  lord  and  owner  of  the  entire  parish 
of  Holkham. 

Although  John  Coke  did  not  acquire  the  Manor  of 
Holkham  till  1659,  he  was  living  in  the  parish  in  1638, 
and  it  is  very  interesting  to  note  that  a  year  after  he 
got  possession  of  Holkham  Manor,  in  1660,  he  re- 
claimed 360  acres  of  salt  marshes  from  the  sea,  thus 
establishing  a  precedent  which  his  descendants  fol- 
lowed. Beyond  this  solitary  fact,  little  record  of  him 
remains.  He  seems  to  have  been  contented  with  the 
renown  which  was  his  by  inheritance.  A  few  of  his 
papers  relating  to  petty  business  transactions  alone 
have  survived,  with  a  curious  old  document,1  exquisitely 

1  In  the  possession  of  the  present  writer. 


i66o]     THE  STORY  OF  THE  HERITAGE  17 

transcribed  in  his  own  handwriting,  which  states  how 
he  covenants  to  lend  to  King  James  the  sum  of  £30 ; 
and  which,  judging  by  the  care  bestowed  on  its  preser- 
vation, seems  to  indicate  that  the  loan  was  never 
refunded.  Of  Merial  the  only  record  remaining  is  her 
effigy  on  her  tomb  in  the  church  at  Holkham,  where 
she  kneels  facing  her  husband,  while  carved  in  stone 
beneath  are  the  numerous  sons  and  daughters  who 
survived  her  out  of  a  family  of  fourteen  children. 

Upon  his  father's  death,  the  youngest  son  of  John 
and  Merial,  also  named  John,  succeeded  to  the  posses- 
sion of  Holkham  ;  but  he  dying  childless,  the  estates 
then  reverted  to  Robert,  the  grandson  of  Edward's  fifth 
son,  Henry  of  Thorington,  who  succeeded  not  only  to 
Holkham,  but  to  the  greater  part  of  Sir  Edward's 
property. 

Robert  married  the  Lady  Ann  Osborne,  daughter  of 
Thomas,  Duke  of  Leeds,  Lord  Treasurer  of  England  ; 
but  dying  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-nine,  he  left  an 
only  son,  Edward,  who  married  Carey,  or  Cary, 
daughter  of  Sir  John  Newton,  of  Barr's  Court,  in 
Gloucestershire. 

Of  Carey  several  portraits  exist  at  Holkham  which 
show  her  to  have  been  tall,  stately  and  slender,  with 
dark  eyes  and  fair  hair  ;  while  her  high  forehead  and 
thoughtful  expression  are  full  of  intellect  and  of  a 
strong  individuality. 

Motteux,1  who  dedicated  the  second  edition  of  his 
translation  of  Don  Quixote  to  Edward  Coke,  speaks  of 
the  " charming  and  virtuous  partner  of  Mr.  Coke"; 

1  Peter  Anthony  Motteux  (1660-1718),  playwriter  and  translator  of 
Rabelais  and  Don  Quixote. 

I.— C 


18  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1660 
while  she  has  been  described  as  a  "fair  and  accom- 
plished woman,"  with  "a  true  and  delicate  taste  in 
literature  and  art."1  That  she  collected  and  appre- 
ciated books  is  shown  by  the  dainty  volumes  which  she 
added  to  the  Holkham  library,  pasting  in  them  a  little 
label  inscribed — 

Cary  Coke,  wife  of  Edward  Coke  of  Norfolk,  Esquire. 

The  portrait  of  her  husband,  Edward  Coke,  presents 
a  striking  contrast  to  her  own.  In  his  long  periwig 
and  quaint  attire,  he  is  fat  and  somewhat  bucolic  in 
appearance,  also — if  portraits  can  be  so  far  trusted 
— more  addicted  to  good-living  than  to  youthful 
energy. 

But  a  sinister  fate  seems  to  have  overtaken  the  young 
couple.  On  April  13th,  1707,  Edward  Coke  died  with- 
out having  completed  his  thirtieth  year,  and  within  four 
months  his  fair  young  wife,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty- 
seven,  had  followed  him  to  the  grave.2  Not  only  to 
the  heritage  of  the  Cokes,  but  to  that  gentle,  ill-fated 
young  mother,  must  be  attributed  the  legacy  of  brains 
which  descended  to  one,  at  least,  of  their  children  in 
such  a  remarkable  degree.  Three  sons  and  two  daughters 
survived  them,  and  of  these,  Thomas,  the  eldest,  achieved 
celebrity  for  his  fine  taste  in  art  and  literature,  to  which 
a  fitting  monument  exists  in  the  house  which  he  built 
and  the  treasures  which  he  accumulated. 

1  Sandringham,  by  Mrs.  Herbert  Jones,  p.  131. 

2  Carey,  born  in  Pall  Mall,  June,  1680,  died  August  1st,  1707.  Her 
grandmother  was  Lady  Mary  Carey,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Dover  and 
wife  of  William  Heveningham,  one  of  the  judges  of  Charles  I.  Lady 
Mary  made  her  granddaughter,  Carey  Newton  (Mrs.  Coke),  heiress  to 
the  estates  of  the  Earl  of  Dover,  to  the  exclusion  of  her  son,  Sir  William 
Heveningham. 


1697] 


CHAPTER  II 

THOMAS  COKE  AND  THE  BUILDING 
OF  HOLKHAM 

I697-I755 

THOMAS  COKE,  son  of  Edward  and  Carey, 
was  destined,  all  unwittingly,  to  play  an 
important  part  in  relation  to  the  fortunes  of 
his  great-nephew,  the  subject  of  this  memoir; 
and  in  observing  how  this  came  to  pass,  one  cannot  but 
feel  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  no  adequate  record  has 
been  preserved  of  a  man  whose  own  life  was  certainly 
remarkable. 

The  few  facts  which  are  known  of  Thomas  Coke  go 
to  prove  that  he  was  of  a  very  unusual,  if  not  of  an 
altogether  pleasant  personality.  Indeed,  in  many  of 
his  actions  we  are  forced  to  recognise  that,  with  much 
of  the  genius  and  the  powerful  brain  of  his  great 
ancestor,  he  inherited  in  no  small  measure  the  less 
pleasing  qualities  of  the  Lord  Chief  Justice,  notably 
Sir  Edward's  imperious  spirit,  acerbity  and  harshness 
of  temper. 

There  is  one  portrait  of  Thomas  Coke  as  a  youth 
which  shows  a  thin,  unprepossessing  face  of  no  par- 
ticular ability,  with  a  mouth  which  suggests  meanness, 
and  an  expression  which  seems  to  indicate  weakness 
both  of  body  and  will.    Probably  this  maligns  him, 

19 


20  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1697 
for  in  later  life  he  was  certainly  possessed  of  an  im- 
posing presence  and  good  looks.  His  portrait  at 
Longford,  in  the  robes  of  a  Knight  of  the  Bath,  is  that 
of  a  man  with  fine  features  and  a  stately  carriage  ; 
while  the  weakness  of  the  youth  has  vanished,  and, 
instead,  one  sees  the  signs  of  a  strong  intellect  and  an 
iron  will.  But  still  the  face  is  not  altogether  attractive. 
There  is  a  harshness  about  the  mouth,  and  the  eyes  are 
stern  and  cold. 

Born  June  17th,  1697,  Thomas  Coke  succeeded  to 
Holkham  in  the  year  1707,  and  then  a  boy  of  ten, 
with  his  younger  brothers  and  sisters,  all  wards  in 
Chancery,  he  was  sent  to  Barr's  Court,  in  Gloucester- 
shire, to  be  brought  up  by  his  guardian  and  grandfather, 
Sir  John  Newton. 

Five  years  later,  when  fifteen  years  of  age,  he  was  sent 
abroad  in  order  to  complete  his  education  at  the  Uni- 
versity at  Turin  and  also  by  travel.  With  a  coach  and 
six,  numerous  other  horses  and  carriages,  and  a  very 
large  retinue,  the  principal  members  of  which  appear 
to  have  been  a  chaplain,  a  Gentleman  of  the  Horse,  a 
"  Mr.  Steward,  and  a  Valet  de  Chambre,"  he  embarked 
for  the  Continent;  and  during  the  next  six  years 
journeyed  through  France,  Germany,  Holland,  Flan- 
ders, Malta,  Sicily  and  Italy.  Whether  his  great 
friend,  Lord  Burlington,1  was  with  him  the  whole  of  the 
time  there  is  nothing  to  show,  but  during  a  lengthy 
sojourn  in  Italy  the  two  young  men  were  together  and, 
being  possessed  of  congenial  tastes,  enjoyed  the  same 
society  and  shared  the  same  interests.    In  those  days 

1  Richard,  third  Earl  of  Burlington,  celebrated  as  an  amateur  archi- 
tect.   He  built  Burlington  House. 


W2]      THOMAS  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  21 

travellers  were  scarce,  and  two  youths  of  wealth  and 
position  touring  luxuriously  from  town  to  town  could 
not  fail  to  attract  attention.  Thomas  Coke  became 
known  as  a  man  of  great  liberality,  who  was  the  owner 
of  large  possessions  in  his  own  country ;  and,  before 
long,  he  was  recognised  familiarly  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  Italy  by  the  name  of  the 
"Cavaliero  Coke."  At  the  Court  of  Cosmo  III,  then 
Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  he  and  his  friend  were  well 
received.  They  prolonged  their  stay  in  Rome,  Vicenza, 
Venice,  and  still  longer  in  Florence  ;  while  they  soon 
became  on  terms  of  great  intimacy  with  all  the  most 
eminent  scholars  and  artists  of  the  day. 

Then  it  was  that  the  unusual  ability  of  Thomas 
Coke  revealed  itself.  Still  a  mere  lad  in  years,  and 
belonging  to  a  date  when  it  was  no  disgrace  for  men  of 
wealth  and  position  to  be  illiterate  and  ill-educated,  he 
showed  all  the  keenness  for  acquiring  knowledge  and 
the  eager  appreciation  of  literature  which,  in  those  days, 
were  too  often  relegated  to  the  needy  of  a  lower  class. 

He  devoted  himself  earnestly  to  the  study  of  the 
ancient  Greek  and  Roman  authors  ;  and,  his  friend- 
ship with  the  scholars  and  bibliographers  of  the  country 
affording  him  special  opportunities  for  procuring  rare 
treasures  in  literature,  he  soon  began  to  form  a  collec- 
tion of  valuable  MSS.  which  comprised  almost  every 
department  of  literature,  both  sacred  and  profane.  His 
favourite  authors  appear  to  have  been  the  Roman 
historians,  and  amongst  these  he  gave  Livy  the  prefer- 
ence. He  therefore  commissioned  a  celebrated  scholar, 
Antonio  Maria  Biscioni,  Chief  Librarian  of  the  Lauren- 
tina,  to  collect  any  valuable  material  available  connected 


22  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [17" 
with  that  historian  ;  and  Biscioni  devoted  three  years 
to  the  task,  which,  begun  in  17 17,  was  not  finished  till 
1720,  after  Mr.  Coke's  return  to  England.  The  result 
is  that  at  Holkham  there  is  a  collection  of  the  works 
of  Livy  probably  unrivalled  in  any  other  library ; 
treasures  in  manuscript  and  in  print  too  numerous  to 
mention  ;  fourteen  copies  in  manuscript  of  different 
portions  of  his  works,  duplicates  of  all  the  manuscripts 
preserved  in  the  Laurentian  Library  in  Florence  and 
the  libraries  of  Corsini  and  St.  Mark's,  together  with 
a  splendid  manuscript  in  vellum  of  which  we  shall 
hear  later.  In  1721  Biscioni  sent  his  collection  over  in 
a  large  folio  volume,  accompanied  by  a  Latin  letter 
which  is  sufficient  evidence  not  only  of  the  earnestness 
with  which  Thomas  Coke  prosecuted  his  studies,  but 
of  the  liberality  with  which  he  rewarded  those  who 
worked  for  him. 

That  many  of  the  books  now  at  Holkham  were  col- 
lected at  an  earlier  date  and  during  his  own  residence 
in  Italy,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  name  of  Thomas 
Coke,  as  a  Commoner,  is  written  upon  the  title-page  ; 
and  it  was  during  his  tour  that  an  event  occurred 
which  subsequently  led  to  a  further  and  valuable  addi- 
tion to  his  library  in  the  form  of  a  legacy,  the  story 
of  which  and  of  the  testator's  connection  with  Thomas 
Coke,  afterwards  Earl  of  Leicester,  is  told  in  the 
following  curious  announcement,  which  appeared  in  the 
Obituary  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  for  May,  1744: — 

"At  the  Earl  of  Leicester's  House,  Great  Russel 
Street,  Bloomsbury  Square,  Signore  Dominico 
Ferrari,  Dr.  of  Laws  and  F.R.S.  as  well  as  a 
member  of  several  learned  Foreign  Academies.  He 


17"]      THOMAS  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  23 


was  a  Neapolitan  by  Birth,  and  of  an  antient  Family 
in  that  City  and  practised  as  an  Advocate  in  his 
Profession  with  no  less  success  than  applause,  till 
by  an  Accident  he  became  acquainted  with  a  learned 
Man  of  Sir  Thomas  Coke's — now  Earl  of  Leicester — 
retinue  ;  by  whose  means,  after  serious  consideration 
and  conviction,  he  renounced  his  Practise  and  the 
Errors  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  became  a 
member  of  that  of  England  ;  and  on  his  arrival  here 
was  appointed  Librarian  to  the  Noble  Family  where 
he  died.  We  hear  that  his  body  being  opened,  a  large 
Stone  the  size  of  a  Turkey1  s  Egg  was  extracted  and 
that  he  left  a  valuable  Library  to  the  Earl.  He  was  a 
gentleman  of  uncommon  Learning,  inoffensive  to  all, 
and  of  a  most  improving  and  agreeable  Conversa- 
tion." 

Thus,  owing  to  his  kindness  when  but  a  youth,  to 
a  distressed  gentleman,  did  Thomas  Coke,  later  in  life, 
become  possessed  of  a  large  number  of  very  rare 
Italian  books  ;  and  another  curious  event  which  hap- 
pened during  his  tour  in  Italy  was  that  he  discovered 
a  rare  Italian  manuscript  which  through  his  liberality 
proved  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the  literature  of  Italy. 
This  was  a  history,  in  seven  books,  of  the  specimens 
of  early  art  discovered  in  that  country,  called  De 
Etruria  Regali,  and  dedicated  to  Cosmo  II,  written 
by  Thomas  Dempster,  of  Muriesk,1  a  Scotchman  by 
birth,  who  had  been  driven  from  his  native  land  a 
century  earlier  owing  to  his  being  a  Roman  Catholic. 
After  various  vicissitudes,  Dempster  became  Professor 
at  Bologna  where  he  taught  for  seven  years,  and  where 
he  died  in  1625  with  his  great  work  still  unpublished. 
It  would  have  lapsed  into  oblivion,  and  been  lost  for 
ever  to  Italy,  but  for  the  strange  chance  that  an  English 

1  Born  1579 — ob.  1625. 


24  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1717 
youth,  touring  through  this  foreign  city,  should  happen 
to  see,  and  be  qualified  to  appreciate,  the  value  of  the 
almost  illegible  MSS.  Thomas  Coke,  recognising  its 
merits,  bought  the  autograph  copy  of  the  great  work 
from  Antonio  Maria  Salvini,  and  determined  not  only 
to  give  it  to  the  public  at  his  own  expense,  but  to  spare 
no  money  in  producing  it  in  a  worthy  manner.  The 
scholars  of  Italy  were  overjoyed  at  the  promise  of  such 
a  munificent  gift  to  the  country,  and  awaited  the  advent 
of  the  book  with  impatience  ;  but  it  was  not  till  after 
his  return  to  England  and  the  attainment  of  his 
majority,  that  Thomas  Coke  was  able  to  fulfil  his 
intention.  He  then  sent  the  original  manuscript  back 
to  Italy  that  a  copy  might  be  made  of  it,  and  employed 
Biscioni  for  the  purpose.  It  was  no  easy  task  to 
perform,  owing  to  the  writing  of  the  manuscript  being 
so  difficult  to  decipher  ;  but  Biscioni  accomplished  it  in 
a  year,  and  both  the  original  manuscript  and  the  copy 
are  now  in  the  library  at  Holkham.  The  work  was 
finally  printed  at  Florence,  with  about  one  hundred 
fine  engravings  of  ancient  art.  To  it  was  prefixed  a 
Latin  dedication  to  Cosmo  III,  written  by  Thomas 
Coke,  in  which  he  points  out  the  strange  coincidence 
that  a  book,  by  a  native  of  Great  Britain  upon  Italian 
antiquities,  should  remain  to  be  published,  a  century 
afterwards,  by  another  native  of  the  same  country, 
equally  devoted  to  the  same  pursuits.  This  dedication 
is  dated  "at  London  I.  Kal.  Septem.  1725." 1 

But  it  was  not  only  in  matters  of  literature  that 
Thomas  Coke,  during  his  minority,  showed  a  fine 

1  Published  1723-4.    Two  vols.,  folio  1. 


1717]      THOMAS  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  25 

taste  and  a  cultivated  understanding.  He  was  gifted 
with  a  consummate  appreciation  of  beauty  in  colour 
and  outline,  and  his  devotion  to  classical  art  was  even 
more  remarkably  developed  than  his  devotion  to  classi- 
cal literature.  Very  early  in  his  tour  he  appears  to 
have  begun  a  collection  of  valuable  pictures — a  collec- 
tion which,  later  in  life,  left  him  in  possession  of 
genuine  works  of  Raphael,  of  Titian,  of  the  Caracci, 
of  Guido,  of  Domenichino  and  other  old  masters  ;  of 
a  splendid  Van  Dyck  of  the  Due  d'Arenberg  on  horse- 
back ;  of  landscapes  of  Claude  Lorraine  so  numerous 
that  they  cover  the  walls  of  an  entire  room  at  Holk- 
ham  ;  of  several  of  the  finest  drawings  of  the  same 
artist  executed  upon  a  larger  scale — and  which,  by 
their  skill,  almost  equal  in  effect  the  most  celebrated  of 
his  pictures, — and  of  other  drawings,  amongst  which 
were  undoubted  works  of  Michelangelo,  Raphael,  Fra 
Bartolommeo  and  Titian. 

To  these  he  added  specimens  of  statuary,  the 
acquisition  of  which  not  only  required  knowledge  and 
perspicuity,  but  was  fraught  with  considerable  danger, 
owing  to  the  watchfulness  of  the  Government,  who 
tried  to  prevent  any  treasures  which  were  of  national 
value  being  taken  out  of  the  country.  Thus  it  was 
that,  in  connection  with  one  of  his  purchases,  he 
got  into  a  serious  difficulty.  He  had  secretly  bought 
a  beautiful  headless  figure  of  Diana  for  £1500,  which 
on  almost  indisputable  authority  is  believed  to  have 
belonged  to  Cicero.  It  is  considered  to  be  one  of  the 
finest  specimens  of  classical  drapery  and  perhaps  the 
most  beautiful  representation  of  the  goddess  in  exist- 
ence.   After  its  purchase,  Cavalier  Camillo  Rusconi, 


26    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1718 

an  eminent  Italian  sculptor,  added  the  head  and  some 
of  the  fingers,  which  are  the  only  parts  that  are 
modern.  Having  secured  this  statue  secretly,  Thomas 
Coke  sent  it  out  of  Rome  by  night  into  safe  keeping  at 
Florence  ;  but  the  Government  got  wind  of  this  action, 
the  Pope  caused  him  to  be  arrested  and  imprisoned,  and 
he  was  released  only  at  the  special  solicitation  of  his 
friend  the  Grand  Duke  Cosmo. 

Four  very  fine  antique  statues,  however,  of  which  he 
became  possessed,  were  lost,  as  the  vessel  in  which 
they  were  shipped  was  wrecked  on  its  voyage  to 
England.  These  statues,  it  is  said,  had  been  intended 
to  decorate  the  niches  in  the  south  tribune  of  the 
statue  gallery,  in  a  house  which  he  had  already  deter- 
mined to  build  upon  his  return  to  England. 

It  is  not  known  definitely  at  what  date  Thomas  Coke 
first  conceived  the  idea  of  erecting  for  himself  a 
home  of  classical  design,  but  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  idea  came  to  him  as  the  result  of  his  studying 
the  beautiful  specimens  of  Italian  architecture,  and 
that  it  was  fostered  by  the  influence  of  the  man 
with  whom  he  travelled.  Lord  Burlington  was  noted 
for  his  classical  taste  in,  and  practical  knowledge 
of,  architecture,  and  evidently  imbued  his  friend  with 
his  own  enthusiasm.  During  part  of  their  tour  the 
young  men  were  accompanied  by  Mr.  Kent,  the  archi- 
tect,1 who,  it  is  specially  recorded,  was  encouraged  by 
their  joint  patronage  to  prosecute  his  studies  in  Rome. 
Under  such  auspices,  and  while  Thomas  Coke  was 

1  William  Kent  (1684-1748),  painter,  landscape  gardener  and  Palla- 
dian  architect,  was  a  native  of  Yorkshire,  and  died  at  Burlington 
House. 


'  STATUE  OF  DIANA,  AT  HOLKHAM, 
SAID  TO  HAVE  BELONGED  TO  CICERO. 


i7i8]       THOMAS  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  27 

collecting  treasures  with  which  to  embellish  his  future 
home,  slowly  and  with  unrivalled  patience,  he  evolved 
the  design  of  it. 

One  can  picture  the  eagerness  with  which  the  two 
young  men,  both,  beyond  a  doubt,  singularly  gifted,  both 
exceptionally  appreciative  of  the  beauty  of  their  sur- 
roundings, must  have  pursued  and  developed  the  first 
idea  of  that  wonderful  building  which  was  to  embody 
all  their  impressions,  all  their  artistic  aspirations.  The 
thought  of  such  a  practical  outcome  of  their  emotions 
must  have  added  a  zest  to  all  their  researches,  to  their 
daily  enjoyment  of  the  classical  beauty  in  which  they 
both  delighted.  Lord  Burlington,  indeed,  with  his 
creative  faculty,  appears  to  have  been  not  one  whit  less 
interested  in  the  construction  of  that  projected  house 
than  was  its  future  owner  ;  while  the  great  idea  of  the 
latter  was  to  combine  convenience  with  beauty.  With 
this  object  in  view,  Thomas  Coke  studied  the  most 
perfect  examples,  both  of  later  and  of  ancient  archi- 
tecture ;  he  inspected  the  most  commodious  and  luxu- 
rious of  the  modern  palaces  and  villas  of  the  Italian 
nobility  ;  he  visited  and  revisited  all  the  celebrated 
classical  temples  and  public  buildings  ;  he  dwelt  upon 
the  architecture  of  Palladio  and  the  designs  of  Inigo 
Jones.1  Inherently  artistic,  he  steeped  his  soul  in  the 
beauty  of  his  surroundings,  and  culled  thence  conclu- 
sions, suggestions,  and  practical  knowledge. 

But  with  his  designs  immature,  the  time  arrived 
when,  in  view  of  his  approaching  majority,  it  became 

1  His  prot£g£,  Mr.  Kent,  published  in  1727  a  book  on  the  Designs  of 
Inigo  Jones,  on  which  he  was  a  great  authority.  The  plates  in  this  book 
were  from  drawings  by  John  Webb  (in  the  possession  of  Lord  Burlington), 
which  were  copies  of  the  original  designs  by  Inigo  Jones. 


28    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1718 

necessary  for  him  to  return  to  England.  Accompanied 
by  his  friend  Lord  Burlington  and  by  Mr.  Kent,  he 
journeyed  home  once  more.  From  the  moment  that 
he  set  foot  on  English  ground  an  account  of  his  ex- 
penditure was  written  with  punctilious  care  in  "A 
JOURNAL  kept  by  Edward  Smith,  of  all  ye  pay- 
ments  made  by  him  for  his  Honourable  Mastor  Thomas 
Coke  Esq  re  from  Tuesday  May  ijth  1J18  being  ye  day 
that  Mr.  Coke  Landed  at  Dover  after  near  six  years 
travails  in  France,  Italy,  Sicely,  Germany,  Malta, 
Holland  and  Flanders "  ;  and  from  the  said  Edward 
Smith  (to  whom  was  allotted  for  the  purpose  pens, 
ink  and  papers  to  the  value  of  £2.  12s.  iod.)  we  forth- 
with learn  his  master's  movements  with  unerring 
accuracy. 

After  the  expenses  for  Mr.  Coke  and  his  suite  at  the 
custom-house,  there  follow  the  expenses  of  a  journey 
to  London  with  a  coach  and  six,  with  two  Berlins,  and 
men  "  Guarding  ye  Baggage"  Dinners  at  "ye 
Tavern"  in  London  are  next  entered,  dinners  "with 
a  chicken  "  and  dinners  without,  and  a  final  total  of  "paid 
ye  Tavern  Bill  for  eating  in  full"  Then  follow  miscella- 
neous entries  of  expenses  in  town,  and  soon  an  entry 
of  more  significance:  "My  Mastor }s  journey  to  my 
Lord  Thane? s 1  £06 . .  06 . .  00.  Ditto  to  my  Lord 
Thanefs  ye  second  time — £06  .  .  14.  .  00,"  with  an  addi- 
tional "Item  of  Meat  for  Four  Doggs  at  Thanet  House — 
£00 .  .  10 .  .  00,"  apparently  indicating  that  if  the 
"  Mastor"  was  received  as  a  visitor  his  dogs  were  not. 
Nor  are  we  left  long  in  doubt  as  to  the  meaning  of  these 
visits.    On  June  17th  we  are  told  by  E.  Smith  that  his 

1  Thomas,  sixth  Earl  of  Thanet. 


i7i8]      THOMAS  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  29 

"  Mastor  attained  to  ye  age  of  twenty -one  years ,  and 
upon  Thursday  ye  jrd  of  July  following  was  marry ed  to 
ye  Right  Honourable  ye  Lady  Margaret  Tufton,  a  Lady 
of  great  Beauty ',  singular  Virtue  and  Goodness ,  being 
18  years  of  age  ye  16th  of  June,  These  accounts 

contain  also  "  Ye  Charges  of  Mr  Coke's  Equipping 
himself  for  ye  said  Wedding,  and  for  Liveries •,  Coaches, 
Horses,  Furniture,  Presents  to  ye  said  Lady,  and  Gratui- 
ties etc  to  my  Lord  Thane  fs  servants  etc" 

The  accounts  of  "  Mr  Coke's  Wedding  Cloaths " 
which  then  follow,  are  described  under  separate  head- 
ings down  the  pages,  in  large  printed  letters:  "  stock- 
ings, SHOES,  HATTS,  TAYLOR,  SEMSTRESS,  LACE,  SWORD, 

gloves,  perriwigs,  trunks,  etc."  Thus  we  learn 
that  a  certain  Mr.  Lockman  received  the  sum  of 
"  £29  .  .  08  .  .  00  for  two  Wiggs  "  ;  that  Mr.  Henry 
Hick's  Bill  4 'for  Gold  and  Silver  lace  and  Fringe  for 
Mr  Coke's  Sutes"  was  15s.  od.,  that  a  Mrs.  Mary 
Gameron  was  paid  a  sum  of  ^87  for  embroidering  two 
suits  ;  while  for  "Hatts  and  feathers"  the  comparatively 
small  sum  of  £3.  5.  was  paid,  and  gloves  were  pur- 
chased for  the  modest  price  of  nine  shillings  the  half- 
dozen.  Next  is  entered  "  Item  Cloaths  and  other  things 
for  Mr,  Robert  Coke,"  the  younger  brother  of  Thomas, 
whose  periwig  (no  doubt  inferior  in  beauty  to  that 
worn  by  the  bridegroom)  cost  only  £8  and  his  sword 
£18.  But  a  certain  Mr.  Fury  was  paid  the  sum  of 
"  £01  .  .  08  .  .  00"  for  resetting  Robert's  diamond  ring, 
from  another  man  was  purchased  for  him  a  "  triangu- 
lar seal,"  twice  "for  his  pocket"  he  was  given  seven 
guineas  ;  while  for  "  cleaning  and  making  up  his  night- 
gown "  the  sum  of  "  £00  . .  07  .  .  06  "  was  expended  ;  so 


30    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1718 

that  we  may  conclude  most  of  his  wants  were  amply 
provided  for  ! 

Next  follow  entries  of  "  Cloaths  for  Mr.  Steward,  the 
Gentleman  of  the  Horse,  and  the  Valet  de  Chambre"  ; 
"  Velvet  caps  for  ye  Grooms  ;  Livery,  Hatts,  Hangers, 
Boots,  Shoes,  Gloves,  Stockings,  and  Breeches  "  for 
the  servants  to  the  sum  of  "£2 18  . .  1 1  .  .  00  " ;  "A  Sett 
of  Harness  compleate  for  six  Horses  " — £30  ;  1 1  Bitts 
and  Saddles"  and  " Equipment  for  ye  Postillions"  ;  to 
"Mr.  Budders  for  a  Charret  compleate" — £128,  and 
— what  would  lead  one  to  infer  that  the  " Charret" 
was  not  as  " compleate"  as  represented — a  bill  for 
"  1 11-  yards  of  fine  skarlat  cloath  to  line  ye  said  Charret 
— £12  . .  13  . .  00."  Also,  in  view  of  the  higher  value 
of  money  at  that  date,  it  is  curious  to  learn  that  UA 
Rich  Red  Velvet  embroidered  Saddle  for  my  Mas  tor" 
cost  " £66. .  00. .  00,"  and  for  a  "Blue  Velvet  Saddle 
£132 .  .  03 .  .  04"  was  paid,  of  which  the  gold  lace  and 
fringe  cost  over  £20,  the  making  over  £\6y  and  the 
ornaments  over  £13,  to  which  had  to  be  added  "  two 
cases  of  fine  Pistols  for  ye  Saddles  "  at  £22. 

Further,  Mr.  Coke  appears  to  have  furnished  him- 
self with  jewellery  as  well  as  clothes  for  the  occasion. 
For  a  gold  watch  he  paid  £27  ;  for  an  u  Agget  Snuff 
Box  £17 .  .  17 . .  00."  For  a  "  Trimming  Basson  " — i.e. 
a  ' i  Silver  Barber's  Basson  with  ye  rest  of  furniture  all 
compleate  in  a  Shagreen  case — £49  . .  08 . .  00."  For 
a  diamond  ring  £350,  for  diamond  shoe-buckles 
£120,  and  for  pearl  tassels  £35.  While  the  "Jewells 
and  other  Presents  made  by  Mr.  Coke  to  my  Lady 
Margaret "  amounted  to  between  ^"3000  and  £4000,  and 
included  a  green  velvet  side-saddle  costing  £69,  a 


1718]      THOMAS  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  31 

watch  costing  £68,  a  "  Gold  Tweser  case  "  costing  £50, 
and  u  Old  Gold  for  an  Endowing  Purse  "  £108. 

And  so  these  two  were  married,  the  youth  of  twenty- 
one  and  the  girl  of  eighteen  ;  and  we  learn  that  for  the 
wedding  favours  Mr.  Coke  paid  over  £8$  ;  for  the 
u  Gratuities  to  My  Lord  Thanet's  servants  "  over  £134  ; 
to  "  Musicians  and  others  "  over  £56  ;  while  the  poor 
of  the  parish  were  treated  with  equal  liberality.  As  to 
my  Lady  Margaret,  her  girlish  beauty  was  perpetuated 
in  a  picture  of  rare  loveliness,  and  also  in  one  of  later 
date,  where  she  sits  a  smiling,  dainty  dame,  with  small 
features,  dark  hair  and  bright  eyes  ;  while,  richly  be- 
decked with  huge  pearls,  her  robe  of  crimson  velvet 
and  silver-grey  falls  gracefully  about  her  slender 
figure,  and  the  silver  shoe — purposely  protruded  from 
beneath  her  velvet  skirt — still  testifies,  it  is  said,  to  her 
youthful  pride  in  her  shapely  foot.1 

After  the  wedding  the  bride  and  groom  journeyed  to 
Tunbridge,  and  the  expenses  thereof  were  still  carefully 
entered  by  the  conscientious  Mr.  Smith  ;  minor  items 
being  "Paid  seven  guineas  for  Golden  Toys  y*.  my 
Mastor  bought  at  Tunbridge"  "Paid  5  Guineas  yf. 
my  Mastor  lost  at  Bassot"  and  the  recurring  expense  of 
"  6lbs.  of  powder  for  My  Master's  Wiggs"  From  Tun- 
bridge, after  paying  various  visits,  they  travelled  to 
London,  and  Mr.  Smith  "  Gave  to  ye  Mustek  at  my 
Mastor *s  arrival  to  town  5  guineas" — the  "Musick" 
consisting  of  "  Drumorsy  6  Trumpetors,  Hoitbois^ 
Ringors  and  ye  Parish  Mustek  ^  ;  and  a  further  mys- 

1  One  picture  of  her  was  painted  in  1719,  judging  by  the  following 
entry  :  "  Paid  to  Segnr  Ignatus  for  My  Lady  Margaret's  picture,  over  and 
above  what  he  had  before  the  which  picture  was — £04 .  .  04.  .  00." 


32    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1718 

terious  donation  presented  "To  A  Drumor  2/6,  and  to  ye 
Ringors  when  my  Mastor  wash'd  himself  7/6."  While 
in  London,  Thomas  Coke  appears  good-naturedly 
to  have  sent  for  his  young  brother  and  cousin  from 
Gloucestershire,  for  Mr.  Smith  records  how  he  paid 
"for  a  coach  and  six  horses  to  fetch  Mr.  Newton  and 
Mr.  Bobby  to  London  "  ;  and  how  he  afterwards  had 
to  pay  * '  Mr.  Dont  for  ye  blade  and  scabbard  of  his 
sword  broken  by  Mr.  Bobby."  Constant  entries,  too, 
record  the  charities  practised  by  Thomas  Coke,  some 
quaint  items  of  which  run  as  follows  : — 

£  s.  d. 

For  a  Gentleman  of  decay'd  Fortune  .  01  01  00 
For  a  poor  Man  to  keep  him  out  of  Gaol  05  05  00 
Prisoners  .  .  .  .    00  02  06 

A  Man  y*.  bro1.  home  ye  Lyon  Dogg  .  00  01  00 
To  Mary  Harrison  running       .  .    00  02  06 

To  Andrew  -  -  ditto         .  .  .    00  02  06 

To  ye  Portor  who  lent  your  Honour  A 

shilling        .  .  .  .    00  02  06 

To  Portor  Prince  to  make  him  and  ye 

Cockors  drink         .  .  .    00  05  00 

Later,  Thomas  Coke  and  his  bride  journeyed  down  to 
Longford  in  Derbyshire,  a  slow  and  expensive  journey, 
judging  by  the  board-wages  and  tavern  expenses  for 
their  large  following  of  servants,  and  by  entries  which 
include  many  horses  bought  on  the  road  and  fighting- 
cocks  purchased  at  the  various  stopping-places,  together 
with  "fooding  ye  cocks"  and  providing  numerous 
drinks  for  "ye  Cockers."  After  the  arrival  at  Long- 
ford, however,  the  accounts  assume  a  more  settled 
character.  The  expenses  of  the  household,  garden, 
and  stables  are  recorded  regularly,  the  latter  including 
"  My  Lady's  Footmen  for  Lighting  her  Ladyship  with 
Flamboys,"  and  "  My  Mastor's  Footmen  for  Lighting 


1718]      THOMAS  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  33 

His  Honour  with  Flamboys."  The  regular  expenses 
of  "Apparill"  (or  "  Apparoll ")  for  his  Honour  are 
entered,  including  annually,  a  "  Tye  Long  Wigg,  and 
two  Short  Ridley  Bagg  Wiggs"  ;  the  payment  of 
"  My  Lady  Margaret's  Pinn  Money"  of  £400  per 
annum  ;  and  "  Given  to  Mr.  Batcheller  for  reading 
prayers  for  near  half  a  year  £10  . .  /o,"  and  to  "Mr. 
Springgold  for  reading  prayers  at  Holkham  {Church) 
£10.  .  /o."  In  curious  contrast  to  the  stipend  of  the 
two  chaplains  are  the  heavy  expenses  of  Mr.  Coke's 
hunting  and  cock-fighting,  to  which  latter  sport 
he  was  passionately  attached.  On  it  he  expended 
heavy  sums  annually,  apart  from  a  separate  account 
which  explains  itself  seriously  as  "Such  expenses  of 
Cocks  as  properly  belong  to  your  Honour,  and  therefore 
are  not  inserted  in  ye  generall  account  of  Cocks," 
while  it  seems  doubtful  whether  such  entries  included 
the  money  spent  in  betting  upon  the  result  of  the  fights. 
Nor  did  he  tire  of  his  pastime  with  advancing  years, 
for  in  1732  we  read  in  the  daily  papers  how  "at  the 
*  Crown,'  Swaffham,  a  cock-fighting  match  was  fought 
between  Lord  Lovel  of  Holkham  (formerly  Thomas 
Coke),  and  John  Thurston  of  Hoxne,  Suffolk.  There 
were  46  cocks  a  side,  and  the  stakes  were  five  guineas  a 
battle,  and  fifty  guineas  to  the  odd  battle." 

Indeed,  the  accounts  of  Edward  Smith  seem  to  give 
a  fairly  accurate  index  to  his  "Mastor's"  character. 
Close  to  the  entries  of  the  money  expended  on  rare 
treasures  of  art  and  literature1  are  the  expenses  of  the 

1  "Item:  March  4th,  1719.  The  statue  Diana  came  over  in  Ye 
Supurb  Man  of  War.    Fetching  her  up  from  Woolwich,  etc. 

"  May,  1719.  There  arrived  from  abroad  Books,  Pictures,  Statues, 
etc.,  etc." 

I— D 


34  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1732 
brutalising  sport  which  he  loved  ;  next  to  evidences  of 
ostentatious  luxury,  of  sums  lavished  on  rare  jewels 
and  articles  of  virtu — on  all  the  1 '  Golden  Toys"  of  the 
collector — we  read  of  boyish  purchases  such  as  nine 
guineas  for  a  cockatoo,  eleven  guineas  for  a  makaw 
and  two  small  birds — ending  with  the  tragic  entry, 
i  'Crying ye  Mackaw  when  lost — 5/-."  Thomas  Coke  was 
at  once  a  master-mind  and  a  trifler ;  an  aesthetic  and 
coarse-fibred ;  equally  appreciative  of  all  that  was 
exquisite  and  of  all  that  was  brutal  in  the  world 
around  him,  passionate,  cruel,  rough,  yet  also  highly 
educated,  full  of  that  genius  which  he  loved  to  en- 
courage in  others,  of  polished  and  courteous  manners 
when  he  so  elected  to  be,  and  of  a  generosity  which 
was  profuse. 

As  a  landlord  we  find  that  he  was  liked  by  his  tenants 
to  whom  he  was  lenient  and  liberal,  while  socially  he 
was  hated  by  his  equals  to  whom  he  was  arrogant  and 
insolent.  In  the  political  world  he  exhibited  capacity  ; 
about  the  date  of  his  marriage  he  attached  himself  to 
Robert  Walpole,  then  rapidly  waxing  in  power,  and, 
as  Walpole  rose,  so  also  rose  Thomas  Coke.  For 
some  years  the  latter  was  Member  for  Hexham.  In 
1725  he  was  created  Knight  of  the  Bath;  in  May, 
1728,  he  was  raised  to  the  Peerage  as  Baron  Lovel,  of 
Minster  Lovel,  in  the  County  of  Oxford.  In  1733  he 
was  made  Postmaster-General  in  conjunction  with  the 
Hon.  Edward  Carteret,  when  he  established  a  post 
office  at  Holkham,1  and  the  coaches  called  there  twice 
a  day.  Apart  from  his  political  career,  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Society  of  Dilettante  in  1740,  and  it  is 

1  Holkham  is  still  a  post  office. 


1733]      THOMAS  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  35 

evident  that  he  did  much  to  advance  literary  and 
artistic  taste  in  England  at  that  period.  His  return 
from  abroad  had  been  hailed  with  delight  by  the 
English  scholars  who  had  heard  of  his  rare  collection 
of  books  and  MSS.,  and  when  any  of  the  noted 
literary  men  of  the  day  proceeded  to  beg  the  loan  of 
these,  he  lent  his  most  precious  volumes  with  a 
generosity  which  seems  to  show  the  disinterested  lover 
of  literature  rather  than  the  mere  virtuoso.  In  conse- 
quence, more  than  one  of  the  works  brought  out  at 
that  date  were  dedicated  to  him  as  the  great  patron 
of  art  and  literature.  In  1721  Michael  Maittaire  pub- 
lished an  edition  of  the  Iliad  from  an  exceptionally  fine 
copy  borrowed  from  Holkham,  and  inscribed  his  work 
with  a  fulsome  dedication  to  the  man  who  had  aided 
him  ;  while  some  years  later  Arnold  Drackenborch,1 
the  celebrated  German  commentator,  followed  his 
example.  Perhaps  no  better  summing  up  of  the 
character  of  Thomas  Coke  can  be  found  than  in  this 

1  The  learned  German  had  been  for  several  years  preparing-  and 
printing-  a  new  edition  of  the  works  of  Livy.  Having  heard  of  the 
wonderful  collection  of  the  manuscripts  of  that  author  belonging  to 
Lord  Lovel,  he  begged  for  the  loan  of  these.  In  reply,  he  received  seven- 
teen copies  of  the  works  of  Livy,  thirteen  of  which  were  in  manuscript ; 
these  volumes  he  kept  three  years,  and  gave  a  special  description  of 
them  at  the  close  of  his  work.  This  he,  too,  inscribed  to  Lord  Lovel  in 
a  long  and  highly  panegyrical  dedication,  containing  an  interesting 
account  of  all  the  principal  events  of  the  latter's  life,  and  of  his  exertions 
in  promoting  the  progress  of  literature  ;  and  he  specially  mentions  that 
Lord  Lovel  had  formerly  intended  to  edit  the  works  of  Livy  himself. 
But,  in  responding  so  generously  to  Drackenborch's  request,  Lord  Lovel 
had  carefully  abstained  from  mentioning  the  other  valuable  MSS.  of 
Livy  which  he  possessed,  the  collection  of  Florentine  manuscripts  made 
by  Biscioni,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that,  in  thus  suppressing  the  best 
of  his  collection,  he,  all  unknown  to  Drackenborch,  had  not  yet  aban- 
doned his  original  intention,  which,  owing  to  the  stress  of  all  his  other 
labours,  was  never  carried  into  execution. 


36  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1734 
fact — that  he  was  hailed  at  once  as  the  great  patron 
of  the  fine  arts,  and  the  great  patron  of  cock-fighting  in 
England  of  his  day. 

As  to  my  Lady  Margaret,  she  appears  to  have  suited 
her  temper  to  her  fate,  and  to  have  realised  that,  at  all 
events  during  the  lifetime  of  her  imperious  lord,  she 
must  curb  the  strong  individuality  of  which,  un- 
suspected by  him,  she  was  possessed.  Passively  she 
went  her  way  ;  she  inspected  her  dairy  and  her  kitchen 
in  the  grey  hours  of  dawn  while  her  servants  still  lay 
slumbering  ;  she  ruled  her  household  with  a  rod  of 
iron  ;  she  fed  the  poor  with  an  extravagant  hand  ;  she 
admitted  her  neighbours  to  her  presence  on  sufferance 
only,  so  haughty  was  she.  And  all  the  while  the 
autocrat  whom  she  had  married,  unaware  either  of  the 
warmth  of  heart  which  made  her  beloved,  or  of 
the  strength  of  will  which  made  her  feared,  used  to 
make  boast  of  her  meek  and  quiet  spirit ;  and  later, 
when,  by  a  strange  freak  of  fate,  he  had  to  confront 
a  daughter-in-law  who  defied  his  will,  he  would  point 
exultingly  to  his  submissive  wife,  and  ask  whether 
a  daughter  of  the  House  of  Thanet,  inheriting  in  her 
own  right  one  of  the  oldest  of  our  English  baronies,i 
would  not  have  been  more  entitled  to  rebel  and  give 
herself  airs  than  the  Infanta  with  whom  he  now  had  to 
deal? 

Meanwhile,  whatever  his  occupations  and  his  pas- 

1  August  15th,  1734,  His  Majesty  was  pleased  to  confirm  to  Lady 
Lovel  (being  one  of  the  co-heirs  of  Thomas,  the  Earl  of  Thanet)  and  to 
her  heirs,  the  ancient  barony  of  Clifford,  which  barony  descended  to  her 
father,  the  late  Earl  of  Thanet,  as  lineal  heir  to  the  Lady  Anne,  his 
grandmother,  daughter  and  heir  of  George  Clifford,  Earl  of  Cumberland. 
(See  Burke,  1867.) 


1734]      THOMAS  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  37 

times,  Thomas  Coke  had  never  abandoned  his  original 
purpose  of  building  a  palace  for  himself  and  his 
posterity.  He  went  steadily  forward  with  preparations 
for  his  great  work.  But  his  plans  were  not  adopted 
in  haste,  and  although  himself  a  connoisseur  and  an 
expert,  he  determined  not  to  rely  solely  on  his  own 
judgment.  For  sixteen  years  after  his  return  from 
Italy  he  still  studied  and  developed  his  designs,  con- 
sulting all  who  had  obtained  a  reputation  in  architec- 
ture and  art,  submitting  them  to  his  friend  Lord 
Burlington,  and  finally  placing  them  in  the  hands  of 
Messrs.  Kent  and  Brettingham  to  carry  into  execution. 
To  the  construction  of  Holkham  may  be  said  to  have 
been  brought  the  accumulated  experience  of  the 
master-minds  of  all  ages,  collected  and  concentrated 
by  the  untiring  energy  of  one  man. 

In  one  matter,  however,  Thomas  Coke  showed  a 
curious  taste.  It  is  not  known  where  stood  the  house 
in  which  he  lived  at  this  date,  when  in  Norfolk,  but 
there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Holkham,  and  it  appears  equally  certain  that  he  deter- 
mined to  erect  his  new  home  upon  the  original  site  of 
Hill  Hall,  the  old  Manor  House  of  the  Wheateleys. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  the  land  about  Holkham  at  this 
period  was  a  barren,  dreary  estate,  partly  open  heath 
with  a  soil  of  drifting  and,  sand  partly  salt  marshes, 
unattractive  to  the  eye  as  it  was  unprofitable  to  the 
landowner.  Situated  on  the  coast  of  the  North  Sea, 
with  no  land  intervening  between  it  and  the  North 
Pole,  the  bleak  winds  swept  over  its  flat,  timberless 
surface  with  nothing  to  check  their  violence,  so  that 
during  the  cold  months  of  the  year  it  must  have  been 


38  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1734 
well-nigh  uninhabitable.  Yet  something  stronger  than 
the  ordinary  love  of  birthright  must  have  knit  the 
heart  of  Thomas  Coke  to  this  barren  possession  of  his 
forefathers.  When  he  conceived  the  idea  of  building 
a  palace  for  himself  and  his  posterity,  he  could  not, 
on  any  of  his  vast  estates,  have  chosen  for  his  purpose 
a  site  less  beautiful ;  but,  a  man  of  strong  purpose  and 
originality,  he  seems  to  have  desired  that  all  should  be 
of  his  own  creation,  the  future  beauty  of  the  land,  as 
well  as  the  future  beauty  of  the  Italian  palace  which  he 
meditated  erecting  upon  it ;  and,  of  marvellous  energy 
and  perseverance,  he  was  undeterred  by  the  magnitude 
or  the  apparent  impracticability  of  his  attempt  to  trans- 
form the  aspect  of  the  bleak,  desolate  coast. 

Perhaps  mindful  of  the  example  of  John  Coke,  about 
the  year  1722  he  reclaimed  and  embanked  four  hundred 
acres  of  marsh  land  which  had  been  partially  covered 
by  the  sea.  In  1725-6  he  began  to  enclose  and  plant ; 
Holkham  Heath  was  surrounded  by  a  paling,  and  he 
planned  his  future  park  of  about  840  acres.  He  de- 
signed lawns,  gardens,  water,  many  plantations  of 
wood,  and  buildings  useful  and  ornamental.  The  first 
work  actually  erected  was  the  Obelisk,  eighty  feet  high 
and  fashioned  on  an  antique  pattern,  which  was  raised 
in  1729-30  on  an  eminence  facing  the  site  of  the  future 
building  and  upon  a  spot  which  was  then  the  centre 
of  the  park  he  had  planned.  In  1733  preparations  for 
building  were  going  rapidly  forward,  and  heavy  ex- 
penses are  entered  by  Edward  Smith  for  the  "  Brick- 
Killn."  Thomas  Coke  decided  to  build  the  house  of 
brick  because  Vitruvius  had  stated  that  buildings  of 
brick  were  considered  by  the  ancient  Romans  to  be 


1734]  THOMAS  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  39 
more  firm  and  durable  than  those  of  marble.  At  first 
he  intended  to  use  Bath  stone  on  account  of  its  fine 
yellow  tint,  but,  soon  after,  he  made  the  discovery  that 
bricks  fashioned  from  a  brick  earth  in  the  neighbour- 
ing parish  of  Burnham  Norton  and  subjected  to 
proper  seasoning,  acquired  much  the  same  colour, 
while  they  were  more  ponderous  and  far  firmer  in 
texture.  Just  at  this  crisis  a  curious  event  occurred. 
A  packing-case  arrived  from  Rome  containing  an 
antique  statue  which  he  had  purchased,  and  in  it,  by 
accident,  a  brick  was  also  enclosed.  On  comparing 
the  Burnham  Norton  bricks  with  this  yellow  brick  of 
the  Romans,  it  was  found  that  both  exactly  corres- 
ponded in  colour  and  in  hardness. 

Forthwith,  the  greatest  care  was  taken  in  their  manu- 
facture. Any  cutting  when  they  were  once  seasoned 
would  have  caused  discoloration  of  the  surface  and  have 
increased  materially  the  number  of  joins  in  the  building; 
therefore  they  were  moulded  in  the  first  instance  to  all 
the  different  sizes  and  shapes  ultimately  required.  For 
the  execution  of  a  single  u  rustic,"  no  less  than  thirty 
moulds  of  different  forms  and  magnitude  were  needed, 
and  these  again  varied  throughout  other  parts  of  the 
building.  The  labour  thus  entailed  was  great,  and  the 
same  scrupulous  care  was  to  be  bestowed  in  the  pre- 
paration of  the  mortar  with  which  they  were  to  be 
cemented.  Having  been  mixed  with  lime  and  sand, 
this  was  next,  in  order  to  render  it  of  sufficient  firm- 
ness for  fine  brickwork,  to  be  ground  between  a  pair 
of  large  mills  fitted  to  an  engine  for  that  purpose  ; 
the  inner  joints  of  the  walls  were  then  to  be  carefully 
filled  with  it,  and  it  was  to  be  poured  in  a  liquid  state 


40    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1734 

upon  every  course,  or  every  two  courses,  of  the  brick- 
work. 

At  length,  on  May  4th,  1734,  Edward  Smith  records 
the  triumphant  entry  : — 

"  To  Labour1" — diging  Earth  out  of 

ye  Foundation —  .£03. .  1 1 .  .00. " 

And  so  the  great  work  was  begun.1 

Such  was  the  strength  of  the  foundation  of  the  house, 
that  it  is  on  record  there  are  as  many  bricks  below 
the  surface  as  there  are  above  it ;  while  no  part  of  the 
principal  walls  was  allowed  to  rest  upon  timber,  lest,  in 
decaying,  it  should  damage  the  fabric. 

The  actual  plan  of  the  house  was  taken  with  certain 
modifications  from  a  design  by  Palladio.  It  consists  of 
five  quadrangles,  a  large  central  building  and  four 
wings,  so  that  it  presents  four  similar  fronts.  The 
state  rooms  are  on  the  first  floor,  and  are  connected  by 
corridors  344  feet  in  length.  Only  in  the  turrets  are  there 
any  rooms  above  the  first  storey.  Below,  with  curious 
square  windows,  there  is  a  rustic  basement,  specially 
designed  in  order  that  the  servants'  quarters  should  be 
immediately  under  those  whom  they  have  to  serve. 
Beneath  the  basement  are  the  bakehouse,  dairy,  and 
other  offices,  together  with  the  arches  and  foundations 
on  which  the  building  rests.  At  intervals,  in  each 
frontage,  are  arched  doorways,  which  are  very  small,  in 
accordance  with  the  Roman  conception  that  an  insignifi- 
cant entrance  enhances  the  apparent  space  of  an  interior. 

1  It  is  curious  that  Roscoe,  who  wrote  an  account  of  the  building", 
etc.,  in  the  preface  to  his  Catalogue  of  the  Holkliam  Library >  gives  the 
dates  inaccurately.  The  entries  in  the  account  books  are  incontrovert- 
ible. 


SOUTH  FRONT  OF  HOLKHAM,  SHOWING 


ERIOR  OF  THE  SALOON  AND  CHAPEL  WING 


1734]  THOMAS  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  41 
On  the  south  front  is  a  portico  with  tall  Corinthian 
columns  ;  which  columns  are  repeated  on  a  lesser  scale 
on  either  side  of  some  of  the  principal  windows.  The 
casements  and  the  window-sashes  were  originally  of 
burnished  gold,  which  greatly  added  to  the  unique 
appearance  of  the  house,  and,  on  account  of  this  being 
specially  perishable  in  the  salt  sea  air,  a  burnisher  was 
engaged  to  live  on  the  premises  to  keep  the  gilding  in  a 
proper  state  of  repair. 

Over  the  doorway  of  the  house,  within,  the  following 
inscription  was  placed  : — 

THIS  SEAT,  ON  AN  OPEN,   BARREN  ESTATE 
WAS  PLANNED,   PLANTED,   BUILT,   DECORATED,   AND  INHABITED 
Ye  MIDDLE  OF  Ye  EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY 

BY  THOMAS  COKE,  EARL  OF  LEICESTER. 

One  characteristic  must  surely  strike  even  the  most 
casual  observer  of  the  exterior  of  Holkham.  There  is 
no  pandering  to  the  picturesque,  no  conforming  to 
conventional  standards  of  beauty  or  of  fitness.  All  is 
solid,  plain,  impressive,  unusual.  Holkham  stands 
alone,  a  law  unto  itself.  There  is  something  defiant 
in  its  uncompromising  simplicity.  Looking  at  it,  one 
seems  to  trace  there  the  personality  of  the  man  who 
created  it,  the  spirit  of  that  race  of  whose  genius  it  is 
the  expression.  And  although  for  this  very  reason  it 
may  not  appeal  to  universal  taste,  yet  in  its  originality, 
in  its  handsome,  spacious  solidity,  it  is  curiously  in 
harmony  with  the  open,  barren  estate  on  which  it  was 
first  erected — with  the  land  where  to-day,  despite  rich 
fields  and  magnificent  timber,  Nature  itself  is  stern 


42    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  h734 

and  uncompromising  rather  than  endowed  with  any- 
conventional  prettiness. 

But  if,  externally,  all  conveys  that  same  impression  of 
rigid  simplicity,  the  contrast  of  the  interior  of  the 
house  is  all  the  more  striking.  One  steps  from  the 
view  of  that  wide  sweep  of  country,  and  that  plain, 
massive  building,  into  all  the  delicate  beauty  and  luxury 
of  an  Italian  palace.  The  small  unpretentious  entrance 
enhances — as  it  is  intended  to  do — the  effect  of  the 
hall  beyond.  This  measures  thirty-eight  feet  by  thirty- 
one,  and  rises  to  a  height  of  fifty  feet  in  an  exquisite 
dome,  decorated  after  the  manner  of  Inigo  Jones. 
The  architecture  is  of  purely  classical  design,  and  is 
taken  from  the  plan  of  an  ancient  Basilica  or  Tribunal 
of  Justice.  On  either  side  fluted  Ionic  columns  from 
those  in  the  so-called  Ionic  Temple  of  Fortuna  Virilis 
at  Rome,  rest  on  a  base  of  variegated  alabaster.  A 
gallery  connects  the  columns,  protected  by  a  finely 
wrought  railing  and  supported  by  a  basement  bor- 
dered with  black  marble  and  inlaid  with  white  ala- 
baster. Bas-reliefs  and  alto-reliefs  by  Westmacott, 
Chantrey  and  Nollekens  adorn  the  walls ;  in  the  niches 
beyond  are  classical  statues.  The  actual  site  of  the 
tribunal,  the  semicircular  space  at  the  upper  end  of 
the  hall,  contains  the  wide  flight  of  steps  leading  to 
the  Saloon  ;  on  either  side  of  which  now  stand  marble 
busts  of  the  two  great  Cokes  of  modern  days — the  man 
who  created  the  beauty  of  the  house,  and  the  man  who 
created  the  beauty  of  the  land. 

But  a  bare  statement  of  the  general  plan  of  the  hall 
can  convey  no  possible  conception  of  its  peculiar 
beauty.    Wherever  the  eye  rests,  it  is  struck  by  the 


1734]     THOMAS  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  43 

same  perfection  of  design  and  delicacy  of  execution. 
Each  detail  is  a  masterpiece  ;  the  whole  conveys  an 
impression  of  lightness,  of  richness  and  of  grace  to 
which  it  is  difficult  to  do  justice.  Its  classical  beauty 
of  proportion  ;  the  exquisite  dome  with  its  wonderful 
decorations  ;  the  grace  of  the  columns  ;  the  general 
wealth  of  colour,  of  light  and  of  harmony  is  unparalleled. 
In  its  marvellous  conception  and  its  masterly  workman- 
ship it  is  one  of  the  most  triumphant  revivals  of 
classical  art. 

It  is  impossible  here  to  give  any  adequate  description 
of  the  rest  of  the  house — of  the  state  rooms,  the  charm 
of  which  lies  in  their  loftiness  and  beauty  of  proportion, 
and  in  the  exquisite  decoration  of  the  walls  and  ceiling  ; 
of  the  curious  attics  upstairs,  connected  by  long, 
straight  corridors  ;  of  the  labyrinth  of  passages  down- 
stairs, intercepted  by  the  quaint  arched  doorways,  and 
by  staircases  leading  to  the  state  floor.  The  fascina- 
tion of  the  whole  lies  in  its  peculiarity  ;  and  the  fame 
of  such  a  curious  building  created  no  small  stir  in 
England  at  the  date  of  its  erection,  so  that  many  noted 
persons  visited  it  while  it  was  still  in  process  of  execu- 
tion. For  although  beautiful  old  country  houses 
abound  throughout  the  land,  and  although  each  county 
can  boast  its  special  pride  in  this  respect,  and  the 
special  treasures  for  which  such  dwellings  are  renowned, 
Holkham  presented  then,  and  still  retains,  one 
characteristic  which  sets  it  apart  from  all  others — 
within,  as  without,  Holkham  is  unique  ;  there  is  no 
other  house  in  England  like  it. 

As  soon  as  part  of  the  building  became  habitable, 
its  owner  came  to  live  there  ;  at  first,  for  a  week  at  a 


44  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i734 
time  only,  in  order  to  superintend  operations ;  later,  as 
a  permanency.  And  there  he  brought  the  old  library 
of  the  Lord  Chief  Justice,  and  his  own  rare  collection 
of  books,  which  were  carried  up  to  one  of  the  turret 
rooms  then  destined  for  a  library,  and  left  for 
future  arrangement,  many  of  them  in  the  packing-cases 
in  which  they  had  arrived  from  Italy.  There,  too,  he 
brought  the  treasures  which  he  had  accumulated  ; 
beautiful  tapestries  with  which  to  cover  the  walls  of  the 
state  rooms  ;  rich  Genoa  velvet  for  upholstering  ;  his 
pictures — by  Titian,  Van  Dyck,  Paul  Veronese,  Holbein 
and  others ;  his  statues,  which  were  placed  in  the 
niches  in  the  hall  and  in  the  statue  gallery ;  curios, 
bronzes  and  costly  furniture. 

Nearly  a  century  later,  in  1828,  one  Thomas  Creevey, 
writing  from  Holkham,  observed  : — 

"I  came  to  see  the  place.  I  dote  upon  it.  ...  I  was 
not  sufficiently  struck  when  I  have  been  here  before 
with  the  furniture  of  the  walls  and  the  three  common 
living  rooms,  the  saloon,  drawing  and  dining-rooms, 
which  is  Genoa  velvet,  and  what  is  more,  it  has  been 
up  ever  since  the  house  was  built,  which  is  eighty 
years  ago  ;  and  yet  it  is  as  fresh  as  a  four-year-old,  and 
as  handsome  as  ever  it  can  be.  To  be  sure  the  said 
Earl  of  Leicester  was  no  bad  hand  at  finishing  his 
work;  never  was  such  a  house  so  built  outside  and  in. 
The  gilded  roofs  of  all  the  rooms  and  the  doors  would 
of  themselves  nowadays  take  a  fortune  to  make  ;  and 
his  pictures  are  perfect."1 

But  all  the  treasures  which  Lord  Leicester  had 
collected  were  found  insufficient  for  the  adornment  of 

1  A  Selection  from  the  Correspondence  and  Diaries  of  the  late  Thomas 
Creevey,  M.P.,  ed.  by  the  Right  Hon.  Sir  Herbert  Maxwell,  Vol.  II, 
p.  112. 


1734]     THOMAS  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  45 

the  hall  and  the  galleries ;  and  the  younger  Bretting- 
ham,  who  had  already  bought  busts  for  Lord  Orford  at 
Houghton,  was  commissioned  to  journey  out  to  Italy 
and  secure  the  statuary  further  required  for  Holkham. 
This  he  did,  and  arriving  when  Cardinal  Albani  was 
making  a  fresh  collection  to  adorn  his  villa,  Brettingham 
purchased  from  him  certain  treasures  which  the  Cardinal 
parted  with  through  an  obvious  error  of  judgment. 
One  of  these  was  a  beautiful  Fawn  crowned  with 
vine  leaves,  which  had  been  dug  up  in  the  Campagna 
with  the  marks  of  the  chisel  still  visible  upon  it,  and 
which  Brettingham  bought,  still  encrusted  with  earth 
as  it  had  been  found.  A  splendid  bust  of  Thucydides 
was  also  secured  by  him;  the  Silenus,  "  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  statues  which  are  found  in  any  private 
collection  in  England " ; 1  Poseidon  and  the  Venus 
Genetrix,  two  colossal  female  heads,  and  a  huge  head 
of  Aphrodite,  "  A  work  of  truly  sublime  beauty  which 
would  be  an  ornament  to  the  richest  museum."2  In 
all,  he  purchased  eleven  statues,  eight  busts,  a  relief, 
and  some  mosaic  slabs,  thus  executing  his  commission 
to  the  satisfaction  of  his  employer  and  the  credit  of 
himself. 

This,  however,  was  not  until  the  year  1755.  In  all 
else,  Thomas  Coke,  Lord  Leicester,  personally  super- 
intended the  building  and  the  adornment  of  his  home. 
It  is  said  that  no  portion  of  the  house  was  given  over 
into  the  hands  of  the  workmen  till  he  had  critically  in- 
spected and  approved  each  detail  ;  and,  still  to  be  seen 

1  Ancient  Marbles  in  Great  Britain,  by  Adolf  Michaelis,  pp.  71-2, 
paragraph  42. 

2  Op.  cit,  p.  72. 


46    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [173 

at  Holkham,  is  a  mass  of  papers  in  which  he  caused  to 
be  recorded,  with  punctilious  care,  every  item  respecting 
the  construction  of  each  room.  Day  by  day,  week  by 
week,  month  by  month  he  so  planned,  co-operated  in 
and  directed  the  great  work ;  for  thirty  years  he 
watched,  while  by  slow  stages  there  evolved  the 
materialisation  of  his  youthful  dream  ;  and,  brick  by 
brick,  the  building  grew  into  the  house  which  was  to 
perpetuate  his  name  to  his  posterity. 


1719] 


CHAPTER  III 

EDWARD  COKE  AND  THE  TRAGEDY 
OF  HOLKHAM 

"7*9-17S9 

THE  year  after  the  marriage  of  Thomas  Coke 
there  occurs  an  entry  of  deep  interest  in  the 
accounts  of  Edward  Smith.  Preparations 
appear  for  the  advent  of  a  "  Little  Mastor"  ; 
lace  and  linen  to  the  value  of  £130  were  purchased  ; 
"  Quilts  and  Cradles  "  to  the  value  of  £48  ;  a  wardrobe 
is  furnished  to  a  certain  Nurse  Pharoa  ;  and  a  further 
sum  is  allotted  "  To  my  lady  by  order,  to  buy  things  for 
little  Mastor"  Soon  came  entries  for  "Lodging  little 
Master,"  and  his  three  nurses ;  for  the  purchase  of  trifles 
such  as  An  anodine  necklace,1  and  a  correll;  and  finally 
on  July  3rd,  "7b  Mr,  Batcheller  for  cristening  little 
Mastor  £02  .  .  02  .  .  00,"  which  must  have  been  a  valu- 
able addition  to  the  chaplain's  salary. 

And  so  Edward  Coke,  destined  to  be  the  only  son  of 
his  parents  who  should  attain  to  manhood,  the  child  of 
promise,  the  heir  to  a  splendid  heritage,  was  ushered 
into  the  world  with  joy,  and  set  out  on  life's  journey 

1  The  anodyne  necklace  was  for  many  years  a  popular  remedy  for 
children  when  teething,  and  was  sold  for  55s.  a  necklace,  at  78  Long-  Acre, 
by  Basil  Burchell,  "Sole  Proprietor  of  the  Anodyne  Necklace  for  children 
cutting  teeth,  and  of  the  Famous  Sugar  Plumbs  for  Worms."  Mr. 
Burchell  used  the  necklace  as  a  sign  above  his  shop. 

47 


48  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1719 
with  as  fair  a  prospect  as  ever  fell  to  the  lot  of  any 
man. 

There  is  a  picture  of  him  at  Holkham  as  a  slender, 
delicate  child,  clasping  his  mother's  hand.  Few  later 
portraits  of  him  exist.  The  imprint  left  by  Time  on 
that  innocent  childish  face  was  not  such  as  his  parents 
can  have  wished  to  perpetuate. 

That  he  was  possessed  of  good  abilities  we  have 
ample  evidence ;  he  was,  moreover,  we  are  told, 
"  gifted  with  abundance  of  wit  and  humour,"  some  of 
his  friends  were  "  geniuses"1 — a  remarkable  trait  at  the 
date  when  he  lived — and  had  he  been  born  in  circum- 
stances which  enforced  that  he  should  toil  and  strive 
for  his  place  in  the  world  of  men,  no  doubt  he  would 
have  left  a  different  record  behind  him.  But  genius 
flags  in  a  bed  of  roses.  The  world  was  too  easy  for 
Edward  Coke,  and  his  advantage  was  his  undoing. 
Only  once  does  his  name  appear  in  any  public  capacity  ; 
in  1746  he  was  one  of  those  who  presided  at  the  im- 
peachment of  the  Rebel  Lords  ;  all  else  is  a  record  of 
shame,  of  increasing  debauchery,  extravagance  and 
excess  ;  until  death  threatened  to  set  a  limit  to  his  folly, 
and  the  habits  of  drinking,  in  which  he  had  become  con- 
firmed, seemed  likely  to  bring  him  to  an  early  grave. 

Of  all  the  tragedy  which  his  parents  endured  mean- 
while, there  is  constant  proof.  One  by  one  they  were 
fated  to  lay  their  other  children  in  an  infant's  tomb,  but 
the  child  who  survived  cost  more  tears  than  those  who 
breathed  but  to  die.  Few  of  Lord  Leicester's  letters 
exist  which  do  not  contain  some  reference  to  his  son's 

1  See  Lady  Louisa  Stuart :  Selections  from  her  Manuscripts^  ed.  by 
the  Hon.  James  Home,  1899. 


1743]      EDWARD  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  49 

health  and  habits.  More  than  once,  upon  a  promise  of 
amendment,  he  paid  his  son's  gambling  debts,  which 
were  enormous.  Occasionally,  other  methods  were 
resorted  to,  and  medical  aid  was  summoned  to  stem  that 
headlong  wreckage  of  mind  and  body.  Yet  one  hope 
of  salvation  was  ever  present  to  his  parents.  "  I  like 
mightily  what  you  have  done,"  Lord  Leicester  wrote  to 
his  agent  with  regard  to  arrangements  at  Holkham,  in 
a  letter  dated  January  3rd,  174!,  "and  if  we  could  get 
Lord  Coke  married  to  our  wish  all  would  go  well."  In 
their  son's  marriage  lay  his  one  chance  of  regeneration. 
The  wife  who  was  to  be,  would  surely  transform  the  sot 
into  a  sage  ;  or,  if  that  were  indeed  impracticable,  from 
the  wreckage  of  Edward  Coke's  life,  phcenix-like, 
should  spring  another — a  life  which  should  excel  in  all 
wherein  his  own  had  failed. 

So  they  sought  about  for  a  paragon  who  was  to 
fulfil  this  mission,  and  after  devoting  profound  de- 
liberation to  the  matter,  they  fixed  upon  a  lady,  perhaps 
the  most  unsuitable  they  could  have  selected. 

The  Duke  of  Argyle1  had  a  family  of  daughters,2 
who,  being  of  the  useless  sex,  had  been  left  to  grow  up 
wayward,  wild,  and  ignorant.  Lady  Mary,3  the  young- 
est, was  the  most  remarkable ;  her  appearance  was  as 
unusual  as  her  temperament.  Reputed  to  be  possessed 
of  a  beauty  which  was  dazzling,  it  was  a  beauty  of  so 
peculiar  a  nature  that  she  was  nicknamed  "The  White 
Cat."  Her  face  was  of  a  deadly  pallor,  her  hair  of  all 
but  albino  fairness,  while  her  dark  eyes  had  the  alter- 

1  John,  second  Duke  of  Argyle,  1678-1743. 

2  By  his  second  wife,  Jane  Warburton,  maid-of-honour  to  Queen 
Anne. 

a  Born  February  6th,  1726. 
I—  E 


50    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1746 

nate  sullen  glow  and  fiery  blaze  of  the  animal  after 
whom  she  was  named.  And  her  nature  was  not  more 
normal.  Clever,  yet  silly,  quick-tempered,  capricious, 
egoistic,  hopelessly  wrong-headed  and  hysterically  full 
of  whims  and  fantasies,  throughout  her  life  she  lived  in 
a  romance  of  which  she  was  the  persecuted  heroine,  and 
in  which  she  seemed  wholly  incapable  of  separating 
truth  from  falsehood,  or  fact  from  imagination. 

Horace  Walpole,  who  professed  to  be  in  love  with 
her,  said  of  her  in  later  years  : — 

"It  is  a  very  good  heart,  with  a  head  singularly 
awry  ;  in  short  an  extraordinary  character  in  this  soil 
of  phenomena  .  .  .  her  virtue  is  unimpeachable,  her 
friendship  violent,  her  anger  deaf  to  remonstrance. 
She  has  cried  for  40  people  and  quarrelled  with  400. 
She  might  be  happy  and  respected,  but  will  always 
be  miserable  from  the  vanity  of  her  views  and  her 
passion  for  the  extraordinary." 

And  to  this  heroine  of  romance,  aged  19,  Lord  Coke 
was  ordered  to  pay  his  addresses.  The  marriage  was 
conducted  on  old-fashioned  lines  and  arranged  between 
the  parents.  After  considerable  haggling  the  bargain 
was  struck  for  £2,500  per  annum  jointure,  and  £5,000 
pin  money;  while  Lady  Mary,  on  her  part,  had  £20,000, 
a  fairly  large  fortune  for  those  days.  The  Duchess,  in- 
deed, demurred  slightly  "on  account  of  Lord  Leicester's 
notoriously  bad,  dissolute,  and  violent  character";  but 
of  the  son,  strangely  enough,  she  formed  a  favourable 
opinion,  and  in  one  letter  confirms  this  by  the  verdict  of 
Lady  Mary's  uncle,  Lord  Islay  : — 1 

"He  approves  the  thing  very  much  and  has  a  good 
opinion  of  ye  young  man.    He  knows  him  a  good 

1  Archibald,  Earl  of  Islay,  who  succeeded  the  Duchess's  husband  as 
third  duke. 


1746]      EDWARD  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  51 

deal,  and  thinks  of  him  as  I  doe  ;  and  approves  very 
much  of  my  conduct  with  the  Father,  who  he  thinks 
of  as  I  doe,  and  that  I  must  be  very  much  on  my 
guard  with."  .  .  . 

And  again  she  writes  : — 

"  Lady  Leacester  has  set  her  Heart  and  Sole  upon 
the  marryage  for  her  son,  and  is  frightened  out  of 
her  witts  least  anything  should  happen  to  put  a  stop 
toitt." 

But  that  the  negotiations  were  not  always  harmonious, 
Lady  Strafford,  Lady  Mary's  sister,  reveals,  for  she 
writes  : — 

"I  hear  Mama  and  Lord  Leicester  have  frequent 
disputes,  and  I'm  afraid  his  111  Breeding  may  make 
them  run  high  !  " 

Lady  Mary,  when  the  marriage  was  proposed  to  her, 
agreed  to  it  with  apparent  readiness  ;  having  done  so, 
her  role  as  a  heroine  of  romance  necessitated  that  she 
should  be  miserable  and  persecuted.  So  she  wept 
upstairs  and  dowstairs,  languished  and  wasted  away, 
till  her  sister,  to  whom  such  vagaries  were  incompre- 
hensible, demanded  "  why  on  earth  she  did  not  break  it 
off?" — generously  offering  to  do  so  on  her  behalf.  Lady 
Mary's  only  rejoinder  was,  "It  will  be  time  enough 
at  the  altar  !  "  And  still,  with  the  airs  of  a  tragedy 
queen  submitting  to  a  hated  mesalliance,  she  flouted 
Lord  Coke,  who,  accustomed  to  be  considered  one  of 
the  best  matches  of  his  day,  bitterly  resented  the  lady's 
attitude,  but  quietly  bided  his  time.  So  he  called 
assiduously  upon  the  Duchess,  stroked  her  pug-dog, 
drank  innumerable  cups  of  tea,  and  talked  sweetly  to 
his  sullen  bride,  until  his  future  mother-in-law  wrote 


52  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1746 
enthusiastically  of  him  that  "ye  young  man  has  a 
very  good  understanding,  a  great  deal  of  knowledge, 
and  I  think  a  very  sweet  disposition.  That  of  his 
play,  to  be  sure,  was  intirely  owing  to  his  Father  which 
he  desighn'd  to  lay  quite  aside." 

Alas!  for  the  misguided  Duchess.  Lady  Mary  went 
to  the  altar  playing  the  part  of  a  weeping  reluctant 
bride,  but  apparently  forgot  to  pronounce  her  refusal 
to  marry  the  man  she  professed  to  loathe,  and  so  passed 
from  imaginary  into  actual  persecution.  Still  with  the 
airs  of  a  tragedy  queen,  she  prepared  to  submit  to 
the  hated  caresses  of  her  husband  ;  but  Lord  Coke 
promptly  informed  her  that  she  had  little  to  fear  from 
his  affection,  and  leaving  her  upon  her  wedding  day, 
openly  rejoined  his  boon  companions,  whom  he  regaled 
with  a  graphic  description  of  the  incident,  making  ex- 
ceedingly merry  over  the  airs  of  the  deserted  lady. 

Married  life  begun  under  such  conditions  was  not 
likely  to  be  harmonious.  Three  months  after  the 
wedding  the  young  couple  were  to  accompany  the 
parents  to  Holkham  for  the  summer.  When  the 
Leicester  coach-and-six  stopped  at  Lady  Mary's  door 
in  the  morning,  she  appeared  ready  clad  for  the 
journey,  but  lo  !  Lord  Coke  had  not  yet  returned  from 
the  tavern.  Inquiries  on  Lord  Leicester's  part  elicited 
a  disclosure  of  his  son's  habits,  and  his  wrath  against 
the  latter  knew  no  bounds.  In  point  of  fact,  he  cared 
not  at  all  who  was,  or  was  not  in  the  right ;  but  know- 
ing the  precarious  state  of  his  son's  health,  his  whole 
heart  was  set  upon  securing  heirs  to  his  estate  ;  "  He 
would,"  says  Lady  Louisa  Stuart,  "have  protected 
a  devil  with  this  object  in  view  ! "  and  to  have  his  plans 


1747]      EDWARD  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM 


frustrated  in  the  moment  of  apparent  fulfilment  was 
gall  and  wormwood  to  his  imperious  spirit.  So  he 
espoused  Lady  Mary's  cause  hotly,  and  treated  her 
with  the  greatest  kindness,  whilst  his  indignation 
against  his  son  was  equally  unmeasured.  In  a  long 
and  affectionate  letter  written  by  him  to  his  daughter- 
in-law  for  the  New  Year,  1747,  nine  months  after  her 
marriage,  he  deplores  the  "  brutish  behaviour"  of  Lord 
Coke,  and  the  4  4  usage"  received  by  her  from  "this 
thoughtless  Beast,"  of  whom  he  speaks  in  terms  of 
unmitigated  reprobation,  while  his  comments  on  Lady 
Mary's  own  conduct  are  equally  laudatory  : — 

"  If  your  husband  should  not  come  to  his  senses," 
he  explains,  "  but  still  continue  brute  enough  not  to 
prize  as  he  ought  the  great  Jewel  he  has  in  you  .  .  . 
this  verily  must  be  a  satisfaction  which  every  Body 
who  have  111  Husbands  do  not  find,  that  your 
Behaviour  is  allowed  good,  that  not  a  word  against 
that  can  be  said  to  justify  his  neglect.  ...  I  am 
sure  he  knows  your  worth  and  has  often  spoke  of 
It  in  the  highest  Light  to  us.  In  what  Light  the 
rest  of  the  family  look  on  you,  and  how  you  have 
endeared  yourself  to  them  will  be  a  convincing  proof 
that  nothing  can  be  laid  to  your  charge  that  may 
occasion  this  Behaviour,  nor  indeed  do  I  believe  him 
vile  enough  to  Justify  himself  that  way,  which  too 
many  Sotts  and  Brutish  Husbands  do,  trying  to 
excuse  themselves  by  being  forced  from  home  by 
the  Behaviour  of  their  Wives.  Therefore  I  think  it 
right,  not  knowing  to  what  excess  of  folly  and  rude- 
ness those  vices,  if  continued  in,  should  bring  him 
to,  that  you  should  have  something  in  your  hand  to 
show  that  even  his  own  Father  who  have  [szc]  watched 
him  with  an  attentive  Eye  and  all  his  own  Family 
and  Friends  blame  him  and  love  you." 

And,  after  further  expressing  at  great  length  his 
affection  for  and  admiration  of  her,  and  assuring  her 


54  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [m7 
that,  had  he  not  believed  Lord  Coke's  promise  of 
amendment  before  marriage,  he  would  have  broken  off 
the  match,  he  concludes,  "I  promise  you,  was  it  not 
for  you,  after  such  Behaviour,  I  would  never  see  my 
son  more." 

Meanwhile,  matters  went  from  bad  to  worse. 

"Lord  Coke,"  wrote  Horace  Walpole,  "  has  de- 
molished himself  very  fast.  You  know  he  was 
married  last  spring.  He  has  lost  immense  sums  at 
play  and  seldom  goes  home  to  his  wife  till  eight  in 
the  morning.  The  world  is  vehement  on  her  side, 
and  not  only  her  family  but  his  own  give  him  up. 
At  present  matters  are  patched  up  by  the  mediation 
of  my  brother,  but  I  think  can  never  go  on.  She 
married  him  extremely  against  her  will." 

For  a  time,  we  are  told,  Lady  Mary  consoled  herself 
with  enacting  the  part  of  an  heroic  sufferer  ;  but  this 
poor  satisfaction  could  not  long  endure,  since  Lord 
Coke,  cowed  by  his  father,  saw  fit  to  assume  the  airs  of  a 
penitent  and  adoring  husband — a  transformation  which 
Lady  Mary  found  more  insupportable  than  his  neglect. 
Whatever  his  treatment  of  her  in  private — and  he 
appears  to  have  been  an  arch-hypocrite — in  public  he 
called  her  "  My  Love  !  My  Life  !  My  Angel  ! "  But 
when,  as  the  reward  of  his  assurances  of  devotion  and 
amendment,  he  expected  to  be  restored  to  Lady  Mary's 
good  graces,  he  found  that,  estimating  such  protestations 
attheir  true  worth,  she  refused  firmly  to  receive  himagain 
as  her  husband.  Nor  did  Lord  Leicester,  when  making 
the  same  suggestion  on  behalf  of  his  son,  meet  with 
any  better  success.  Forthwith,  to  Lady  Mary's  extreme 
surprise,  her  father-in-law  transferred  his  championship 
to  her  husband,  and  became  as  violent  in  his  enmity 


1747]      EDWARD  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  55 

against  her  as  he  had  before  been  in  his  friendship. 
All  his  natural  brutality  asserted  itself.  One  day  when 
she  was  entertaining  some  friends,  into  their  midst 
arrived  Lord  Leicester,  raved  at  her  stubbornness, 
called  her  insulting  names,  told  her  that  Lord  Coke  had 
done  her  the  greatest  honour  in  marrying  her,  and 
behaved  like  a  madman.  Lady  Mary  sent  for  her  mother 
to  defend  her,  and,  as  may  be  imagined,  there  was  a 
prodigious  family  row. 

Henceforward  it  was  war  to  the  knife.  Lord  Leicester 
and  his  son  concerted  together  how  best  to  break  Lady 
Mary's  spirit.  Shortly  afterwards,  when  she  was 
staying  at  Bath  for  the  waters,  Lord  Coke  pleasantly 
informed  her  that,  well  or  ill,  she  should  journey  down 
to  Holkham,  where  he  i 'would  make  her  as  miserable 
as  he  could."  Such  was  his  treatment  of  her  that  one 
of  his  own  friends  challenged  him  in  consequence,  and 
Lady  Betty  Campbell  records  how  there  had  been  "a 
duel  between  Lord  Coke  and  Mr.  Ballendin  in  Mary-le- 
Bon  Fields,  and  that  they  both  mist  and  the  seconds 
parted  them."  "Lord  Coke,"  she  writes  later  to  her 
sister,  Lady  Dalkeith,  "  has  behaved  in  such  a  manner 
to  Lady  Mary  that  has  both  surprised  and  shocked  us 
all.  He  has  told  her  that  he  shall  leave  nothing  un- 
invented  to  make  her  as  miserable  as  he  can  ;  and  that 
she  shall  never  see  either  friend  or  relation  again. 
She  has  born  it  all  with  great  temper.  .  .  .  The 
Duchess  desires  I  wou'd  tell  you  from  her  that  she  is 
now  convinced  by  what  she  has  seen  that  if  Lord 
Coke  had  married  a  woman  with  the  temper  of  an 
Angle,  she  must  have  been  miserable  with  him." 

Lady  Mary,  however,  far  from  being  the  "  Angle" 


56  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1749 
of  the  Duchess's  imagination,  was  both  tactless  and 
violent.  To  Holkham,  whether  she  so  willed  or  no,  she 
was  forced  to  journey  ;  and  there,  having  alienated  her 
mother-law,  who  might  have  alleviated  her  lot,  she  was 
left  at  the  mercy  of  her  father-in-law  and  her  husband. 
They  first  treated  her  with  marked  rudeness  and  en- 
couraged the  servants  to  follow  their  example,  so  that 
the  latter  profanely  nicknamed  her  " Our  Virgin  Mary." 
To  escape  from  constant  humiliation  Lady  Mary 
feigned  sickness,  and  arraying  herself  in  "a  night- 
cap and  sick-dress"  retired  to  her  turret  bedchamber 
and  refused  to  issue  thence,  finding  what  little  recrea- 
tion she  could  in  the  rare  visits  of  her  friends.  Before 
long  her  seclusion  actually  affected  her  health,  but 
Lord  Leicester,  furious  at  her  ruse,  determined  to  turn 
her  voluntary  into  actual  imprisonment.  One  last 
attempt  he  appears  to  have  made  to  bring  about  a  recon- 
ciliation between  the  estranged  couple.  Sir  Harry 
and  Lady  Bedingfield,  when  upon  a  visit  to  Holkham, 
undertook  to  endeavour  to  persuade  Lady  Mary  to 
look  more  kindly  upon  her  husband  ;  and  in  a  deposi- 
tion, which  was  afterwards  produced  in  court,  they 
described  how  Lord  Coke,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  swore 
that  he  would  beg  his  wife's  pardon  upon  his  knees, 
and  how  he  desired  a  reconciliation  more  earnestly  than 
aught  else  in  the  world,  but  how  Lady  Mary,  upon 
being  urged  to  receive  him  again,  exclaimed  :  "  There 
may  be  some  things  perhaps  which  one  ought  to  do, 
but  this  I  cannot  do!" — after  which  she  immediately 
fell  into  tears  and  left  the  room. 

Lord  Leicester's  scant  patience  was  at  an  end,  and 
we  are  told  that  he  informed  her  that  "  she  was  a  piece 


1749]  EDWARD  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  57 
of  useless  Lumber,  fit  only  to  be  locked  up  in  the  garrat 
out  of  the  way"  He  actually  ascertained  how  far  he 
could  legally  "  ill-treat  a  wife  who  was  acting  contrary 
to  the  laws  of  God  and  Man,"  and  in  March,  1749,  upon 
receiving  Power  of  Attorney  from  Lord  Coke,  who  was 
leaving  Holkham,  he  seized  Lady  Mary's  keys,  papers 
and  letters,  dismissed  her  maid  and  finally  removed 
her  from  "the  New  House  to  the  Old  One,"  where  he 
placed  her  under  lock  and  key,  and  forbade  the  servants 
to  allow  any  one  to  visit  her. 

One  is  forcibly  reminded  of  the  treatment  which  the 
Lord  Chief  Justice  meted  out  to  his  unfortunate  daugh- 
ter ;  but  Lady  Mary  was  made  of  stronger  stuff  than 
the  luckless  Frances.  Though  seriously  ill,  she  refused 
to  allow  the  new  maid  to  approach  her,  and  for  six 
months  endured  solitary  confinement,  until  she  suc- 
ceeded (it  is  supposed  through  the  agency  of  the 
chaplain  or  the  apothecary)  in  letting  her  family  know 
of  her  plight.  The  disillusioned  Duchess  forthwith 
determined  to  release  her.  Accompanied  by  a  solicitor, 
she  drove  down  to  Holkham,  and  demanded  to  see 
her  daughter.  In  this  one  particular  Lady  Mary's 
persecutors  overstepped  the  law ;  the  Duchess,  in 
the  presence  of  witnesses,  was  refused  admission 
to  her  daughter.  She  returned  to  town,  made 
an  affidavit  of  the  fact,  and  procuring  a  writ  of 
Habeas  Corpus,  Lord  Coke  was  enjoined  to  pro- 
duce his  wife  in  court  on  the  first  day  of  the 
November  session,  when  Lady  Mary  determined  to 
sue  for  a  divorce. 

All  London  was  agog  with  excitement  at  the  ap- 
proaching trial  ;  but  while  there  was  no  doubt  that 


58  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1759 
Lady  Mary's  persecution  had  been  extremely  harsh,  it 
is  equally  evident  that,  to  a  person  of  her  temperament, 
there  was  a  subtle  satisfaction  in  finding  herself  the 
public  heroine  of  such  romantic  misfortune.  Brought 
up  to  Lord  Leicester's  house  in  town,  she  lived  in  a 
garret  and  clothed  herself  in  rags ;  though  the 
Leicesters  pathetically  represented  that  this  was  en- 
tirely her  own  will,  since  she  now  had  her  freedom, 
and  her  pin  money  was  paid  with  regularity.  When 
questioned  for  evidence  to  be  produced  in  court,  she 
adduced  trivialities,  and  mixed  up  fancies  with  fact  in 
a  manner  truly  disconcerting  to  those  who  wished 
to  serve  her  cause.  Her  nerves,  however,  had  been 
shattered,  and  the  condition  of  her  health  was  such 
that  her  friends  applied  to  have  the  trial  postponed 
for  three  months.  This  was  peremptorily  refused  by 
Lord  Coke,  whose  document  states  that  he  is  im- 
patient to  be  reconciled  to  the  wife  whom  he  so 
dearly  loves,  and  that  never  will  he  agree  to  a 
separation  ! 

Since  the  great  object  of  himself  and  his  family  was 
to  secure  an  heir  to  the  Holkham  property,  it  is  difficult 
to  see  why  he  did  not  accept  the  solution  presented 
by  a  divorce,  which  would  have  rid  him  of  a  wife 
who  had  proved  herself  so  unpleasantly  contumacious. 
There  must  have  been  a  strong  vein  of  obstinacy  in 
both  himself  and  his  father  which  induced  them  to 
combat  the  matter ;  though,  possibly,  in  the  face  of 
the  immense  public  interest  which  the  affair  had 
roused,  to  have  refused  to  do  so  might  have  involved 
social  ostracism.  Of  the  trial  itself  Lady  Louisa  Stuart 
has  left  a  graphic  description.    The  court  was  crowded 


1759]      EDWARD  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  59 

with  a  fashionable  audience ;  all  the  most  powerful 
and  reputable  friends  of  the  Duchess  attended  at  her 
request;  all  the  lively,  wild,  young  friends  of  Lord  Coke 
were  present  to  support  their  comrade.  The  Duchess 
was  weeping  bitterly,  Lady  Strafford  (Lady  Mary's 
sister)  perpetually  fainting,  and  Lord  Coke's  "  young 
rakes  and  geniuses"  making  great  sport  of  the  pro- 
ceedings, while  without,  an  immense  mob  had  as- 
sembled to  wait  the  arrival  of  the  persecuted  heroine. 
At  length,  into  their  midst  she  was  borne,  and  as 
the  crowd,  frantic  to  get  a  glimpse  of  her,  pressed 
round  her  in  a  manner  which  was  alarming,  they  broke 
the  glass  of  her  sedan  chair,  whereupon  there  occurred 
a  dramatic  incident.  As  she  stepped  forth,  feeble, 
emaciated,  and  clothed  in  rags,  Lord  Coke  rushed 
forward  to  protect  her  from  the  mob,  exclaiming  ten- 
derly, "  My  dearest  love,  take  care  and  do  not  hurt 
yourself! " 

At  the  trial  which  followed,  much  evidence  was 
adduced  on  either  side  ;  the  depositions  of  Sir  Harry 
and  Lady  Bedingfield  were  read,  the  loving  letters  of 
Lord  Leicester  to  his  daughter-in-law,  etc.,  and  excite- 
ment ran  high.  Finally,  however,  the  case  for  a 
divorce  collapsed,  greatly  owing  to  the  inefficiency 
of  Lady  Mary's  own  evidence  ;  and  it  was  agreed  that 
she  should  reside  unmolested  at  Sudbrook,  near 
Richmond,  with  her  mother,  upon  condition  that  she 
withdrew  her  suit,  lived  upon  her  pin  money  and 
never  set  foot  in  town. 

So  after  two  years  of  wretched  married  life,  nearly 
twelve  months  of  which  had  been  spent  in  imprison- 
ment,  Lady  Mary  attained  to  a  peaceful,   if  dull, 


60  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1750 
freedom:  "  Her  perseverance  and  courage  are  insur- 
mountable," pronounced  Horace  Walpole,  "as  she  has 
shown  in  her  conduct  with  her  husband  and  his  father, 
in  which  contest  she  got  the  better."  Lady  Mary  was 
the  victor,  and  the  treasured  dream  of  Lord  Leicester's 
life  was  at  an  end.  No  little  grandchild,  flesh  of  his 
flesh,  would  ever  run  about  the  gilded  corridors  and 
splendid  rooms  which  he  was  creating,  or  prove  the 
ancestor  of  a  posterity  which  should  look  with  pride  on 
the  home  he  had  designed  for  them.  Lord  Coke  re- 
turned to  his  downward  course ;  and,  more  harsh  and 
imperious  thanof  old,  Lord  Leicester  retired  with  his  lady 
to  Holkham,  where  they  continued  to  live  in  dreary 
state  in  a  portion  of  the  rambling,  unfinished  house. 
"Our  time  which  is  spared  from  Vertu  is  spent  on 
Whist,"  he  wrote ;  and  outside,  the  labourers  dug,  the 
great  mills  worked,  the  bricks  were  hoisted  one  upon 
another,  and  the  huge  building  grew  apace ;  while 
within,  rich  decorations  beautified  it  week  by  week, 
and  month  by  month.  And  still  Lord  Leicester  directed 
and  watched  the  gradual  fulfilment  of  his  scheme,  all 
the  while  pursued  by  the  haunting  dread  lest  even  a 
son  of  his  might  never  inherit  this  splendid  creation 
of  his  brain.  And  still,  with  a  stubborn  courage  which 
refused  to  be  thwarted,  he  rejected  the  obvious  ;  the 
hopes  of  Lady  Mary  and  her  mother,  whom  he  pictured 
eagerly  awaiting  his  son's  death,  were  to  be  frustrated  : 
Lord  Coke  was  to  be  induced  to  come  to  Holkham, 
induced,  yet  again,  "to  reform";  doctors,  yet  again, 
were  to  attempt  the  cure  which  was  beyond  all 
mortal  capacity.    In  June,  1750,  ten  months  after  the 


i75o]      EDWARD  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  61 


scene  in  court,  we  find  him  writing  confidently  to  a 
friend  : — 

"  As  you  are  so  good  as  to  interest  yourself  in  our 
family  wellfare,  I  have  the  pleasure  to  assure  you 
Ld.  Coke  is  better  yn  he  has  been  for  many  years, 
and  by  the  advice  of  Doctor  Hepburn 1  has  used  the 
Cold  Bath  with  great  success  ;  his  spirits  are  more 
equal,  and  he  is  able  to  read  and  taste  what  he  reads, 
and  seems  to  be  quite  easy  in  his  mind  as  to  other 
affairs,  so  that  Kennell  of  Bitches  who  expect  his 
death,  will  be  disappointed,  if  he  will  but  be  prudent 
enough,  and  not  relapse  into  his  idle  courses  of 
drinking." 

But  again,  alas  !  even  the  unparalleled  ' 'success  of 
the  Cold  Bath "  was  not  sufficient  to  counteract  the 
result  of  long  years  of  debauchery  and  excess.  Three 
years  later,  on  August  5th,  Mrs.  Montagu2  wrote  to  her 
husband  from  Tunbridge  : — 

"  There  is  a  report  that  Lord  Coke  is  dying  ;  his 
wife  Lady  Mary  is  here  ;  she  is  extremely  pretty,  her 
air  and  figure  the  most  pleasing  I  ever  saw.  She  is 
not  properly  a  beauty,  but  she  has  more  agremens 
than  one  shall  often  see.  With  so  many  advantages 
of  birth,  person  and  fortune,  I  do  not  wonder  at  her 
resentment  being  lively,  and  that  she  could  ill  brook 
the  neglects  of  her  husband."3 

That  same  month,  while  staying  at  Greenwich,  on 
August  30th,  1753,  Lord  Coke  ended  his  unsatisfactory 
career  at  the  age  of  thirty-four.  "  Poor  Lord  Coke's 
death,"  commented  his  aunt,  Lady  Jane  Coke,4  "though 
it  did  not  concern  me,  yet  made  me  moralise,  when  I 

1  George  Hepburn,  a  doctor  in  Lynn,  who  died  in  1760,  aged  ninety. 
He  is  described  by  a  contemporary  as  "  a  vicious  and  expensive  man." 

2  Mrs.  Montagu,  "Queen  of  the  Blue  Stockings." 

3  Elizabeth  Montagu,  by  E.  Climenson  (1906).    Vol.  II,  p.  38. 

4  Wife  of  Robert  Coke  of  Longford,  brother  of  Lord  Leicester. 


62  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i753 
reflected  how  different  was  his  character  at  his  first 
coming  into  the  world  to  what  it  was  at  his  leaving  it. 
Lady  Mary  has  now  two  thousand  pounds  a  year  rent 
charge,  and  absolute  mistress  of  herself,  which  at  her 
age  is  no  unpleasant  situation."1 

Thenceforward,  although  Lord  Leicester  pursued  his 
work  with  undiminished  energy — although  ambition  for 
his  posterity  gone,  the  love  of  the  artist  for  his  art 
remained — there  is  a  new  note  of  dissatisfaction  in  all 
his  utterances.  There  is  a  fretfulness  in  his  complaint 
to  the  younger  Brettingham  that  "  Your  father  has  built 
a  house  more  to  look  at  than  to  live  in,  for  all  the 
chimneys  smoke  and  cannot  be  cured  "  ;  and  there  is 
an  unutterable  sadness  in  his  final  verdict  as  he  sur- 
veyed the  result  of  his  long  years  of  labour  and  achieve- 
ment :  "  It  is  a  melancholy  thing  to  stand  alone  in  one's 
own  country.  I  look  around,  not  a  house  to  be  seen 
but  my  own.  I  am  Giant,  of  Giant  Castle,  and  have 
ate  up  all  my  neighbours — my  nearest  neighbour  is  the 
King  of  Denmark." 

And  the  final  tragedy  of  his  existence  is  pathetic  in  its 
seeming  inadequacy  to  represent  the  end  of  such  a 
man.  Aloof  in  the  splendid  isolation  of  which  he 
complained,  Lord  Leicester  yet  found  himself  dragged 
into  a  petty  quarrel  with  a  sullen  neighbour.  Colonel 
Townshend,2  a  distinguished  soldier,  but  by  all  ac- 
counts an  ill-conditioned,  unpopular  man,  had  had  an 
old-standing  quarrel  with  him  on  the  supposition  of  his 

Letters  from  Lady  Jane  Coke  to  her  friend  Mrs.  Eyre  at  Derby, 
edited  by  Mrs.  Ambrose  Rathborne,  p.  130. 

2  George  Townshend,  son  and  heir  of  Charles,  third  Viscount  Towns- 
hend, born  1724  and  made  a  Marquis  1786.  He  commanded  at  Quebec 
after  the  death  of  Wolfe. 


1759]       EDWARD  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  63 

gamekeeper  having  killed  some  foxes.  That  Colonel 
Townshend  was  of  a  quarrelsome  disposition  and  much 
disliked  is  evident.  Horace  Walpole  speaks  of  him  as 
having  a  * '  proud,  sullen  and  contemptuous  character, 
and  of  seeing  everything  in  an  ill-natured  and  ridicu- 
lous light,"  while,  in  the  former  dispute  with  him, 
Lord  Leicester  admits  having  been  worsted  over  "my 
Booby  growling  about  your  Partridges."  But,  although 
foxes  may  have  been  at  the  root  of  the  enmity,  the  excuse 
for  the  second  quarrel  was  the  fact  that  Lord  Leicester 
had  spoken  disparagingly  of  the  Militia,  of  which  Colonel 
Townshend  was  first  Colonel.  In  a  fit  of  drunken 
anger  on  January  24th  the  latter  sent  a  challenge  to 
Lord  Leicester,  which,  as  a  specimen  of  the  calligraphy 
and  manners  of  that  date,  is  perhaps  without  parallel. 
In  it  he  remarks  that  *4  It  is  naturell  to  expect  ye  efforts 
of  a  malignant,  pensioned,  renegade  peer  to  obstruct 
ye  Publick  Service,  and  to  blacken  ye  characters  of  a 
sett  of  Gents  who  devote  their  lives  from  principle 
solely  to  ye  defence  of  ye  country,"  and  he  proceeds  to 
make  some  very  trenchant  remarks  respecting  the  traits 
which  distinguish  "  the  Gent  from  the  Tyrent,"  and 
how,  apart  from  the  ostensible  cause  of  quarrel,  "  yor 
private  transactions  about  foxes  and  such  other  things 
have  been  covered  by  a  kind  of  very  small  politeness 
of  which  you  are  so  much  ye  master  and  which  when 
counteracted  by  Reall  111  Will  is  a  mere  Treachery  "  ; 
finally  subscribing  himself,  "  I  am  ye  friend  and  fol- 
lower of  reall  merit  only,  with  ye  utmost  contempt  for 
the  Right  Honourable  ye  Postmaster  Generall,"  etc. 

Now  George  Townshend  was  thirty  years  Lord 
Leicester's  junior,  and  a  professional  man-slayer ;  to 


64    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1759 


propose  a  duel,  therefore,  with  a  pacific  and  somewhat 
infirm  civilian  of  sixty-two  was  an  extravagant  sugges- 
tion, and  in  his  elaborate  answer  to  the  challenge, 
Lord  Leicester  shows  himself  in  an  unusually  favour- 
able light.  Although  he  declines  to  fight,  with  some 
firmness,  his  letter  is  full  of  dignity,  well  expressed, 
and  exhibits  a  self-control  which  presents  a  remarkable 
contrast  to  the  illiterate  abuse  of  his  adversary,  while, 
in  a  kind  and  fatherly  manner,  he  throws  gentle  ridicule 
upon  the  warmth  of  the  younger  man  : — 

"It  would  be  ridiculous  and  rash,"  he  concludes, 
"for  an  old  fellow  retired  from  the  world,  who  cannot 
even  without  great  fatigue  visit  his  neighbours,  to 
begin  duelling  with  an  officer  of  your  rank  in  his 
prime  .  .  .  you  would  get  no  Honour  by  vanquish- 
ing a  man  older  than  your  Father,  and  grown  quite 
unwieldy  and  unfit  for  such  encounters  by  a  long, 
lazy,  and  inactive  life  and  entire  disuse  of  sword  and 
file,1  not  having  this  twenty  years  wore  a  sword  that 
could  be  of  any  use  and  for  a  pistol  I  never  could  hit 
a  barn-door  with  a  gun,  so  it  would  be  very  difficult 
for  me  to  chuse  weapons,  and  I  think  to  turn  duellist 
in  my  grand  climacterisk  [sic]  would  be  a  great  proof 
of  indiscreet  rashness  rather  than  true  courage." 

In  his  reply,  George  Townshend  shows  himself 
somewhat  mollified,  and  with  his  second  ungracious 
letter  all  trace  of  the  correspondence  closes.  Yet,  six 
weeks  later — a  sequel  which  appears  to  hint  more  than 
mere  coincidence — the  death  of  Lord  Leicester  was 
announced,  and  he  was  buried  at  Tittleshall,  where  his 
son  already  reposed. 

Now  in  neither  the  Townshend  nor  the  Leicester 
families  does  any  record  exist  of  the  duel  having  taken 

1  Foil  was  thus  spelt  in  Baileys  Dictionary,  1737. 


1759]      EDWARD  COKE  AND  HOLKHAM  65 

place,  and  while  it  would  obviously  be  to  the  advantage 
of  the  family  of  the  aggressor  to  hush  up  such  an 
occurrence,  no  such  motive  can  have  existed  on  the 
part  of  the  family  of  the  aggrieved.  Yet  a  letter  has 
lately  come  to  light,  written  by  one  Norfolk  clergyman 
to  another,  on  May  10th  following  the  date  of  the 
challenge,  which  not  only  indicates  that  Lord  Leicester's 
death  was  the  result  of  the  duel  with  George  Townshend, 
but  which,  in  its  very  omission  of  all  detail  respecting 
such  an  event,  seems  to  infer  that  the  facts  connected 
with  it  were  well  known  in  Norfolk  at  that  date.1 
Meanwhile,  the  contemporary  letters  of  Lady  Mary 
Coke  which  would  have  thrown  light  upon  the  matter, 
have,  unfortunately,  not  been  preserved.    A  hint  of 

1  May  10th,  1759.  Letter  (from  Edmund  Pyle  to  Samuel  Kerrich). 
"Lord  L.  is  dead  since  you  wrote.  I  wish  with  1000  more  that  his 
antagonist  were  in  the  shades  too  (provided  his  family  were  no  sufferers) ; 
for  I  hold  him  and  his  brother  [Charles]  to  be  two  most  dangerous  men  ; 
as  having-  parts  that  enable  them  to  do  great  mischief,  and  no  principles 
that  lead  them  to  do  any  good.  The  challenger  was  (by  confession  of 
his  friends)  drunk  when  he  wrote  to  Lord  L.,  of  whom,  notwithstanding 
what  I  have  here  said,  I  was  never  an  admirer.  But  in  the  case  now 
under  consideration  how  can  one  help  being  of  his  side?  He  spoke  con- 
temptuously of  the  Militia,  very  true,  and  so  do  thousands.  It  has  been 
burlesqued  in  Publick  papers,  over  and  over  again — and  treated  with  the 
highest  scorn  and  satire.  Yet  because  Lord  L.  was  a  little  severe  upon 
it  at  his  table  he  is  to  be  challenged,  truly,  and  by  whom,  why  by  G.  T. 
a  man  whose  licentious  tongue  spares  not  the  most  sacred  characters — 
King,  priest,  prophet,  minister,  general — all  have  felt  the  lash  of  his  wit 
(as  he  takes  it  to  be)  in  scurrilous  language,  in  burlesque  prints,  and  in 
every  way  that  would  render  them  the  joke  of  the  very  scum  of  the 
people.  This  is  the  man  who  denounces  death  to  any  one  that  shall  dare 
to  scout  a  silly  project  that  he  thinks  fit  to  espouse — and  insists  upon 
being  received  seriously  by  the  English  nation.  In  troth,  my  good  friend, 
things,  at  this  rate,  are  come  to  a  rare  pass.  Noble  or  ignoble,  old  or 
young,  are  all  to  look  with  awe  and  reverence  on  whatever  this  spark 
shall  think  fit  to  declare  for,  at  the  peril  of  their  lives  "  {Memoirs  of  a 
Royal  Chaplain,  edited  by  Albert  Hartshorne,  p.  319). 
I.— F 


66  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1759 
secrecy  may  lie  in  the  fact  that,  of  all  her  voluminous 
correspondence  still  in  existence,  one  letter  only, 
written  in  the  spring  of  1759,  appears  to  have  sur- 
vived ;  and  that  letter,  written  to  her  sister,  Lady 
Dalkeith,  and  which,  whatever  the  manner  of  her 
father-in-law's  death,  must  surely  have  contained  some 
reference  to  it — shows  half  the  sheet  cautiously  de- 
stroyed, presumably  by  the  recipient. 

So  the  matter  remains  shrouded  in  mystery.  All 
that  is  known  is  that  on  April  20th,  1759,  Lord  Leicester 
lay  dead — dead  with  his  work  unfinished,  his  dream  un- 
realised, with  the  great  dread  of  his  latter  days  fulfilled, 
in  that  he  left  no  son  to  inherit  his  life-work — dead, 
unloved,  unregretted  by  the  world  at  large, — dead,  it 
was  reported,  in  a  petty  squabble  with  a  drunken  man. 


THOMAS  COKE,  EARL  OF  LEICESTER,  THE  BUILDER  OF  HOLKHAM 
Bust  by  Chantrey  after  a  model  by  Roubillac 


1759] 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  BIRTH  AND  BOYHOOD  OF 
THOMAS  WILLIAM  COKE 
1754-1767 

THUS,  by  a  strange  freak  of  fate,  had  Lord 
Leicester,  throughout  his  life,  diligently  ac- 
cumulated treasures  for  one  whom  he  had 
never  desired  to  be  his  heir,  while  Lord 
Coke,  by  his  riotous  living,  and  Lady  Mary,  by  her 
contumacious  conduct,  had  completed  the  destiny 
against  which  the  autocrat  of  Holkham  had  striven 
in  vain. 

But  for  the  present  in  the  great  unfinished  building, 
Lady  Leicester  was  left  to  face  life  alone.  "I  am  not 
surprised,"  wrote  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu,  1 'at 
Lord  Leicester  leaving  his  large  estate  to  his  lady, 
notwithstanding  the  contempt  with  which  he  always 
treated  her,  and  her  real  inability  of  managing  it!"1 
Ten  years  earlier  Lady  Louisa  Stuart  had  spoken  of 
her  as  "a  peaceable,  inoffensive  woman,  long  indured 
to  obedience  ;  who,  as  the  father  was  yet  more  ill- 
tempered  than  the  son  and  addicted  to  the  same  vices, 
had  borne  submissively  for  thirty  years  the  trials  that  ex- 
hausted Lady  Mary's  scantier  stock  of  patience  in  three 

1  The  Letters  and  Works  of  Lady  M.  Wortley  Montagu,  ed.  by  Lord 
Wharncliffe  (1893),  Vol.  II,  p.  367. 

67 


68  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1759 
months."1  Now,  within  six  years  of  each  other,  and 
under  peculiarly  painful  circumstances,  she  had  been 
bereft  of  both  the  husband  and  son  who  had  exercised 
such  a  chastening  influence  upon  her  life,  and  was  left, 
a  solitary,  elderly  woman,  with  small  interest  save  her 
foibles  and  her  wealth  to  render  existence  palatable. 

In  his  will,  dated  May  25th,  1756,  Lord  Leicester  had 
left  provision  for  the  completion  of  the  house  should 
his  death  occur  before  this  was  accomplished.  Two 
thousand  pounds  were  to  be  set  aside  annually  out 
of  his  estate  until  the  building  was  finished  ;  and  as  at 
the  time  of  his  demise  the  chapel  wing  was  not  com- 
pleted, the  work  was  proceeded  with  for  six  years  until 
the  structure  was  erected  in  accordance  with  his  direc- 
tions. Subsequently,  however,  the  gilding  and  decora- 
tion of  the  interior  was  carried  out  on  a  less  elaborate 
and  more  economical  scale  than  was  the  case  through- 
out the  rest  of  the  building  ;  so  that,  in  this  particular 
alone,  the  chapel  wing  did  not  correspond  with  the 
wings  finished  during  his  lifetime. 

The  furnishing  of  the  house  was  completed  by  Lady 
Leicester  out  of  her  own  income.  She  stated  that  she 
considered  this  a  duty  which  she  owed  to  her  husband's 
memory ;  but  something,  no  doubt,  she  also  con- 
sidered due  to  her  own  dignity  ;  for  in  her  solitude  one 
consolation  was  vouchsafed  to  her — she  had  an  over- 
weening and  all-satisfying  sense  of  her  own  import- 
ance. Perhaps  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  this 
forthwith  constituted  the  great  and  abiding  interest 
of  her  life  ;  all  her  ideas,  her  fashion  of  living,  almost 
her  code  of  right  and  wrong  centred  round  this — to 

1  Lady  Louisa  Stuart:  Selections  from  her  Manuscripts,  ed.  by  the 
Hon.  J.  Home  (1899),  p.  69. 


1759]  BOYHOOD  OF  THOMAS  WILLIAM  69 
her — sacred  theory  of  the  deference  which  was  due 
to  her.  Kind-hearted,  generous,  full  of  sound  good 
sense  and  right  feeling,  she  was  as  imperious  at  heart 
as  her  too  tyrannical  lord,  and  her  individuality,  which 
had  been  repressed  during  his  lifetime,  after  his  death 
had  full  play.  Frail  and  dainty  in  appearance,  stately 
and  extremely  ceremonious  in  manner,  her  resolute 
determination  of  speech,  habit  and  action  was  apt  to 
alarm  those  who  were  less  strong-minded.  Her  solitude 
deepened  as  the  years  went  by,  for  so  few  were  con- 
sidered by  her  fit  to  admit  to  her  presence  ;  and,  as  her 
horizon  contracted,  she  became  more  eccentric  in  her 
ways,  more  overwhelmingly  punctilious  with  regard  to 
detail,  a  greater  stickler  for  etiquette.  Austere  in  her 
attitude  towards  her  tenants,  she  raised  their  rents  in 
defiance  of  Lord  Leicester's  past  liberality  towards 
them  ;  but  in  charity  her  expenditure  was  lavish,  she 
devoted  large  sums  alike  to  the  deserving  or  the 
undeserving  poor,  and  supported  needy  vagabonds 
throughout  the  county.  In  1755  she  built  and  endowed 
six  picturesque  almshouses  which  stood  on  either  side 
of  the  principal  entrance  to  the  park,  and  in  1768,  at  a 
total  cost  of  £2300,  she  further  endowed  these  for  the 
maintenance  of  three  men  and  three  women  (to  be 
elected  by  the  possessors  of  Holkham  House,  out  of 
some  parish  upon  the  estate),  who  were  each  to  have 
sixpence  per  day,  a  chaldron  of  coal  annually,  and  new 
clothes  once  in  two  years.  In  1767  she  completely  re- 
stored and  refurnished  the  church  at  a  cost  of  £1000. 

And  while  she  lived  her  solitary,  ceremonious  life, 
her  thoughts  must  have  turned,  not  without  a  pang 
of  bitter  jealousy,  to  a  child  whom  she  had  never  seen 


7o    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [*759 

— the  child  who  was  growing  up  to  inherit  all  of  which 
her  own  son  should  have  been  possessed. 

Far  away  in  Derbyshire  was  the  house  where,  as 
a  pretty  bride  of  eighteen,  in  all  the  bravery  of  her 
wedding  finery  and  the  dignity  of  her  new  estate,  my 
Lady  Margaret  had  first  set  up  housekeeping.  A  twin 
property  with  Holkham,  Longford  had  descended  side 
by  side  with  its  fellow  estate  through  successive  gener- 
ations of  Cokes  since  the  days  of  the  Lord  Chief 
Justice.  Before  John  Coke  settled  at  Holkham,  Clement, 
the  sixth  son  of  the  Chief  Justice,  had  established  him- 
self at  Longford. 

The  house  dates  back  to  Norman  times,  though  the 
church,  which  is  dedicated  to  St.  Chad,  is  said,  like 
the  church  at  Holkham,  to  owe  its  origin  to  Saxon 
history  or  legend,  in  which  a  doe  again  plays  an  im- 
portant part.  The  story  is  that  St.  Ceadda  came  to 
live  in  a  solitary  place,  where  he  existed  only  upon  the 
milk  of  a  doe.  This  doe  was  hunted  by  the  son  of 
the  King  of  Mercia,  and  flying  back  to  the  cell  of  the 
saint  for  safety,  brought  there  in  pursuit  the  young 
Prince.  This  resulted  in  the  conversion  of  both  the 
Prince  and  his  brother  to  the  Christian  faith,  which 
being  observed  by  one  of  their  father's  evil  counsellors, 
he  accused  them  to  the  King  of  being  converts  to 
Christianity,  and  the  King  in  his  wrath  slew  them 
both.  Saint  Ceadda  fled  for  safety  to  his  cell  near 
Lichfield  ;  but  the  King,  struck  with  remorse,  repaired 
thither  by  the  advice  of  his  Queen,  and,  being  converted, 
banished  idolatrous  worship  out  of  his  kingdom,  and 
built  a  church  upon  the  site  where  his  sons  had  first 
embraced  Christianity. 


HON.   HENRY  COK 


1759]      BOYHOOD  OF  THOMAS  WILLIAM  71 

The  church  was  rebuilt  in  the  fourteenth  century,  and 
the  registers  in  it  date  back  to  the  time  of  Henry  VII. 

The  house  stands  close  to  the  church,  picturesquely 
situated  at  the  foot  of  a  gently  sloping  park.  It  is  only 
a  short  distance  from  the  village,  but  is  otherwise  in  a 
lonely  situation,  and  in  old  days,  before  the  advent  of 
railways,  it  must  have  been  very  isolated.  It  was 
originally  gabled,  with  buttresses,  surmounted  by 
chimney-stacks  between  the  gables.  At  a  later  period 
the  gables  were  destroyed,  the  upper  storey  raised  and 
a  balustrade  was  placed  along  the  top.  An  old  castel- 
lated tower  then  formed  the  centre  of  the  house,  con- 
taining a  banqueting-hall  surrounded  by  a  gallery, 
which  had  fine  old  carved  panelling  and  stained-glass 
windows  representing  the  arms  of  the  de  Longfords. 
The  house  was  likewise  encircled  by  a  moat,  of  which 
traces  were  found  latterly,  and  also  signs  of  a  former 
garden.  But  the  original  walls  and  buttresses  remain 
to  this  day — walls  which  have  seen  generations  rise  and 
pass  away  from  the  Conquest  downwards,  which  have 
echoed  to  the  voices  of  those  who  for  centuries  now 
have  been  mingling  with  the  dust.  Over  Longford 
prevails  the  charm  which  the  house  of  Holkham  lacks — 
the  profound  charm  of  an  immense  antiquity. 

Margaret  Markham,  the  widow  and  fourth  wife  of 
Nicholas  de  Longford,  sold  the  estate  of  Longford  to 
Lord  Chief  Justice  Coke,  in  the  tenth  year  of  James  I, 
for  the  sum  of  £5000.  Later,  Clement  Coke,  to  whom 
his  father  bequeathed  it,  married  Sara  Reddish,  heiress 
of  the  Reddish  estates  and  sole  living  representative 
of  the  de  Longfords.  The  heirs  of  Clement  thus  suc- 
ceeded to  both  the  heritage  and  the  lineage  of  the 


72  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i759 
de  Longfords,  which  date  back  to  the  Conquest,  and 
which  was  written  out  by  Sir  Edward  Coke  in  an 
elaborate  pedigree,  still  preserved  at  Longford.  The 
authenticity  of  this  as  his  handiwork  is  established  by  the 
fact  that  it  is  endorsed  on  the  reverse  side  in  his  hand- 
writing :  "  The  Cases  of  Sara  Reddiche  my  son  Clement's 
wife";  and  in  this  pedigree,  with  the  carelessness  of 
his  period,  in  alternate  lines  he  spells  his  own  and  his 
son's  name  as  Coke  and  Cooke. 

A  monument  to  Clement  Coke  in  the  Temple  Church 
states  how  "he  in  the  Inner  Temple,  being  a  Fellow  of 
the  House,  Christianly  and  comfortably  in  his  flourish- 
ing age  yielded  up  his  soul  to  the  Almighty  the  three 
and  twentieth  of  May  a.d.  1619." 

He  was  succeeded  first  by  his  eldest  son  Edward, 
created  a  baronet  in  1641,  whose  younger  son,  the  third 
baronet,  died  in  1727,  when  the  estates  passed  with- 
out the  baronetcy  to  Edward,  the  second  brother  of 
Thomas  Coke,  of  Holkham.  The  latter  also  dying 
childless,  Longford  then  went  to  the  youngest  of 
the  three  brothers,  the  "  Mastor  Bobby"  of  Edward 
Smith's  Journal  of  Expenses.  But  it  is  difficult  to 
connect  that  youthful  "  Bobby,"  who  we  cannot  doubt 
got  into  sore  trouble  through  damaging^  the  sword  and 
scabbard  of  the  redoubtable  "  Mr.  Dont,"  with  the 
dignified  Robert  Coke  of  Longford,  Vice-Chamberlain 
to  Queen  Caroline,  the  husband  of  Lady  Jane,  sister 
and  co-heir  of  Philip,  the  Jacobite  Duke  of  Wharton.1 
Of  him  and  of  his  wife  little  trace  remains  save  the 

1  Philip,  Duke  of  Wharton  (1698-1731).  Espoused  the  cause  of  the  Old 
Pretender,  and  having-  been  convicted  of  high  treason,  died  wretchedly 
at  a  Bernardine  convent  near  Tarragona.  Pope's  lines  upon  him  are 
well  known. 


1715]  BOYHOOD  OF  THOMAS  WILLIAM  73 
portrait  of  Lady  Jane,  which  for  many  years  hung  in 
the  long  corridor  at  Longford,  curiously  painted  with 
six  fingers  on  one  hand. 

Robert,  like  his  brother  Edward,  died  without  an 
heir ;  Carey,  his  elder  sister,  who  had  married  Sir 
Marmaduke  Wyvill,  was  also  childless ;  and  therefore 
upon  the  son  of  his  younger  sister,  Anne,  the  estate  of 
Longford  next  devolved. 

Now,  Anne  Coke,  as  a  pretty  girl  of  sixteen,  and 
a  ward  in  Chancery,  had  married,  in  December,  171 5, 
Colonel  Philip  Roberts,  who,  in  the  June  of  the  follow- 
ing year,  received  his  commission  as  a  Major  in  the 
2nd  Troop  of  Horse  Guards.  He  was  the  "  eldest  son 
and  heir-apparent  of  Gabriel  Roberts  of  Soho  Square, 
Westminster,"  and  Ampthill,  Beds;  M.P.  for  Marl- 
borough in  1713-15-22,  and  for  Chippenham  in  1727-34. 
His  father,  Governor  Gabriel  Roberts,  had  rented  the 
same  house  in  Soho  Square  since  17 12  ;  and  as  the 
town  house  of  Sir  John  Newton,  Anne's  grandfather 
and  guardian,  was  also  in  that  square,  the  two  young 
people  must  have  been  neighbours  from  their  earliest 
childhood.  Still  more,  Philip's  mother  was  Mary, 
daughter  of  Sir  Francis  Wenman,  Bt.,  M.P.  for  Oxford- 
shire, whose  family  must  have  been  acquainted  with 
Anne's  brother,  Thomas  Coke,  the  owner  of  Minster 
Lovel  and  of  other  property  in  that  county — to  which 
Philip's  grandmother  also  belonged.  Philip  himself 
is  said  to  have  been  of  exceptionally  handsome  appear- 
ance, and  two  very  beautiful  portraits  of  him  and  of 
his  sister,  as  children,  are  at  Longford,  which  prove 
that,  even  as  a  boy,  he  was  possessed  of  the  good  looks 
with  which  he  was  afterwards  accredited. 


74  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1750 
Anne  alone  of  all  her  family  had  several  children — six 
sons  and  one  daughter.  Her  eldest  son,  Wenman, 
came  into  possession  of  Longford  on  the  death  of  his 
uncle,  Robert  Coke,  in  1750;  whereupon,  under  the 
will  of  Sir  Edward  Coke,  Bt.,  he  assumed  the  surname 
and  arms  of  Coke.1 

Wenman  Coke's  first  wife  died  six  months  after  the 
death  of  her  only  child,  and  he  married,  secondly, 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  George  Chamberlyne  (afterwards 
Denton),  Esq.,  of  Hillesden,  Bucks,  by  whom  he  had 
four  children,  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  Three 
years  after  succeeding  to  Longford,  the  death  of  Lord 
Coke  made  it  probable  that  he  would  succeed  also  to 
Holkham.  ' i  Your  neighbour  at  Longford,"  wrote  Lady 
Jane  Coke  to  her  friend  Mrs.  Eyre,  of  Derby,  "is  now 
very  likely  to  succeed  to  the  whole  family  estate,  and 
if  money  is  happiness,  he  will  have  enough,  and  yet 
whether  his  spirits  were  not  so  good  when  he  danced 
with  you  years  ago,  I  much  question."2 

The  matter  of  the  succession,  however,  was  still 
uncertain,  and  it  was  essential  that  Mr.  Wenman  Coke 
should  keep  well  with  the  imperious  owner  of  Holk- 
ham. One  of  the  conditions  of  doing  so  appears  to 
have  been  that  he  should  quarrel  with  all  the  rest  of 
Lord  Leicester's  relations.  For  this  reason,  perforce, 
Lady  Mary  remained  a  comparative  stranger  to  him, 

1  Burke  and  other  peerages  erroneously  state  that  the  estates  of  his 
uncle  Lord  Leicester  devolved  to  Wenman  Roberts  on  the  death  of  the 
latter  (1759),  and  that  he  then  assumed  the  name  of  Coke.  Holkham,  on 
the  contrary,  was  left  to  Lady  Leicester  for  her  lifetime,  and  in  1750 
Wenman  Roberts  assumed  the  name  of  Coke,  although  this  was  not 
confirmed  by  Act  of  Parliament  till  1755  (28  George  II). 

2  Letters  from  Lady  Jane  Coke  to  her  friend  Mrs.  Eyre  at  Derby, 
edited  by  Mrs.  Ambrose  Rathborne,  1889,  p.  66. 


1750  BOYHOOD  OF  THOMAS  WILLIAM  75 
and  even  Lady  Jane  was  never  asked  to  visit  her  old 
home,  Longford, — an  omission  which,  while  resenting, 
she  condoned.  "  I  am  sure  if  Mr.  Coke  was  left  to  act 
for  himself,  he  would  always  behave  right  to  me,  and 
as  he  is  not,  I  do  not  take  it  ill,"  she  wrote  generously 
in  1 75 1  ;  though,  later  in  the  same  year,  she  added: 
"  Mr.  Coke  and  his  whole  family  have  taken  their 
leave  of  me,  and  I  now  neither  hear  nor  see  anything 
of  them  ;  this  behaviour  is  by  Lord  Leicester's  order, 
who  will  not  have  anybody  that  expects  favours  from 
him  live  in  friendship  with  me.  This  is  the  reason 
given  .  .  .  and  I  wish  Mr.  Coke  may  find  his  new 
friends  as  sincere  to  him  as  his  old  ones  were.  He,  at 
least,  thinks  it  worth  a  trial." 

Too  much,  obviously,  was  at  stake  for  Wenman  Coke 
to  risk  affronting  the  autocrat  whose  heir  he  hoped  to 
become ;  but,  save  for  this  enforced  unfriendliness 
towards  his  relations,  he  appears  to  have  been  an 
amiable  man  of  quiet  tastes  and  studious  disposition. 
He  lived  much  out  of  the  world  and  disliked  society. 
His  habits  were  those  of  an  ordinary  country  gentle- 
man ;  he  was  interested  in  agriculture  and  fond  of  field 
sports ;  but  he  was  a  man  of  cultivated  mind  and  of 
intellectual  pursuits  ;  he  loved  reading,  and  spent  most 
of  the  morning  and  many  hours  of  each  night  buried 
in  his  books,  so  that  he  suffered  in  health  from  his 
sedentary  habits. 

He  seems  to  have  been  much  respected  and  beloved 
by  his  neighbours  and  dependents,  who  found  him 
kind,  sincere,  and  attractive  in  his  manners  ;  while  his 
principles  were  those  of  the  old  Whig  school,  and 
were  above  suspicion.    He  is  specially  described  as 


76    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1754 

being  "  independent-minded,  benevolent,  and  a  stout 
advocate  for  the  Constitution."1 

It  was  just  four  years  after  he  came  into  possession 
of  Longford,  and  one  year  after  the  death  of  Lord 
Coke  had  left  him  the  probable  heir  to  Holkham,  that 
his  eldest  son,  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  born  in 
London,  May  6th,  1754.  Sixteen  days  later  the  child 
was  baptised  at  the  beautiful  old  church  of  St.  James's, 
Piccadilly,  and  received  the  name  of  Thomas  William. 

This  son  was  thus  born  the  heir  to  Longford,  but  for 
the  first  five  years  of  his  life  it  was  not  known  whether 
he  would  succeed  to  the  estate  of  Holkham.  In  1759 
the  death  of  Lord  Leicester  left  the  momentous  ques- 
tion beyond  dispute  ;  the  Holkham  and  other  estates, 
after  the  decease  of  Margaret,  Lady  Leicester,  were 
entailed  upon  Wenman  Coke  and  his  heirs  for  ever. 

It  is  said  that  the  year  when  little  Tom  Coke  became 
acknowledged  as  the  future  heir  to  Holkham  he  was 
painted  by  Reynolds  as  the  "  Young  Hannibal";2  a 
handsome  round-faced  boy  of  five  years  old,  who  looks 
out  of  the  canvas  with  large  solemn  eyes,  and  clasps  a 
sword  in  his  baby  fingers.  The  picture  was  probably 
painted  during  one  of  his  first  visits  to  town,  for  his 
early  days  were  spent  between  Longford  and  London  ; 
as,  in  due  course,  were  those  of  his  brother  Edward 

1  Norwich  Mercury,  Saturday,  April  27th,  1776. 

2  This  picture  is  in  the  possession  of  Lieut.-Colonel  the  Hon.  Wenman 
Coke.  It  has  also  been  described  as  the  portrait  of  Master  Coxe,  but 
the  date  upon  it  (1759)— "that  momentous  year  when  young-  Coke  became 
of  recognised  importance  as  the  future  heir  to  a  large  estate — coupled 
with  the  age  and  the  appearance  of  the  child  represented,  are  strong 
evidence  in  favour  of  its  authenticity  as  the  first  of  the  thirty-two  por- 
traits which  are  said  to  have  been  painted  of  T.  W.  Coke  in  the  course 
of  his  life. 


WENMAN  COKE,  THE  FATHER  OF  THOMAS  WILLIAM  COKE. 


Vvv  . 

7  I  \\&vk  w-(X{  - 


1757]      BOYHOOD  OF  THOMAS  WILLIAM  77 

and  his  sisters  Margaret  and  Elizabeth.  Wenman 
Coke  represented  Derby  for  many  years  in  Parliament, 
and  came  to  town  every  year  during  the  session,  when 
he  occupied  a  house  which  he  rented  from  a  Lady 
Carpenter,  and  which  stood  at  the  corner  of  Hanover 
Square,  at  what  is  now  the  turning  into  Great  George 
Street.  At  this  period  there  were  no  buildings  on 
that  side  of  Oxford  Street,  while  on  the  present  site 
of  Cavendish  Square,  only  a  solitary  house  was  stand- 
ing ;  so  that  all  the  country  surrounding  Lady  Car- 
penter's house  was  completely  open.  One  of  the 
earliest  recollections  of  little  Tom  Coke  was  being 
hurried  to  the  window  of  the  house  in  Hanover  Square 
to  see  a  fox  killed  by  a  pack  of  hounds  kept  by  his  god- 
father, Mr.  Archer,  in  Essex.  The  whole  chase  swept 
into  view  from  the  present  direction  of  Oxford  Street, 
and  the  fox  was  killed  immediately  in  front  of  Mr. 
Wenman  Coke's  house.1 

Another  event  of  his  early  life  made  a  deep  im- 
pression on  him.  When  he  was  quite  a  small  child, 
his  grandfather,  Philip  Roberts,  took  him  upon  his 
knee  and  said  : 

(t  Now  remember,  Tom,  as  long  as  you  live,  never 
trust  a  Tory  !  "  In  repeating  this  story  he  used  to  add — 
"  I  never  have,  and,  by  God,  I  never  will  !  " 

Later,  his  father,  Wenman  Coke,  echoed  this  advice. 
He  told  his  son  that,  if  he  lived,  he  would  see  mischief, 

1  In  1833  Coke  sat  to  Haydon  (see  post,  p.  81)  for  his  portrait  and  re- 
lated this  circumstance,  which  Haydon  records  in  his  Journal — "Mr. 
Coke  said  he  remembered  a  fox  killed  in  Cavendish  Square "  {Auto- 
biography and  Journals  of  R.  B.  Haydon,  ed.  by  T.  Taylor,  Vol.  II, 
p.  376).  It  was  not,  however,  Cavendish,  but  Hanover  Square  where 
he  was  thus  "  in  at  the  death." 


78    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i759 

as  Lord  Bute 1  had  had  the  education  of  the  King — that 
all  good  men  would  be  excluded  from  his  service. 
"  Let  me  give  you  this  advice,"  he  said  ;  "  don't  trust 
a  Tory  ;  if  you  live  you  will  see  great  mischief  from 
their  principles  being  acted  upon.  The  Tories  will 
always  be  with  you  when  you  don't  want  them,  and 
against  you  when  you  do  :  don't  believe  or  trust  a 
Tory:1 

Nearly  seventy  years  afterwards,  at  Lynn,  in  1830, 
Tom  repeated  to  a  crowd  of  his  constituents  the  exact 
words  which  his  father  had  spoken  to  him  as  a  boy. 
Throughout  a  long  life  they  had  remained  fixed  upon 
his  memory,  and  had,  no  doubt,  determined  the  trend 
of  his  whole  career. 

Another  maxim  which  his  father  instilled  into  his 
mind  and  to  which  he  was  also  faithful  through  life,  was 
to  "Stick  to  his  friends,  and  to  disregard  his  enemies  " 
This  was  the  way,  Wenman  Coke  assured  his  son,  to 
attach  the  former  and  be  rid  of  the  latter.  This  advice 
was  never  absent  from  young  Coke's  remembrance  ; 
and  it  may  be  said  to  have  formed  the  commanding 
rule  of  his  life. 

The  first  rudiments  of  his  education  were  received  at 
the  village  school  at  Longford,  where  he  sat  side  by 
side  with  the  little  village  lads  who  were  to  become 
sturdy  yeomen  on  his  estate.    He  was  next  sent  to  a 

1  John  Stuart,  third  Earl  of  Bute,  Prime  Minister  for  eleven  months. 
In  the  household  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  in  1760  ascended  the 
throne  as  George  III,  Lord  Bute  acquired  great  influence  over  the 
minds  both  of  the  Prince  and  his  mother.  He  was  said  to  have 
inoculated  the  young  Prince  with  the  theory  that  the  royal  will  was 
to  be  supreme,  and  that  Ministers  were  simply  to  give  expression  to 
and  carry  out  the  Sovereign's  pleasure. 


1764]  BOYHOOD  OF  THOMAS  WILLIAM  79 
school  at  Wandsworth,  in  Surrey,  which  was  at  that 
date  kept  by  a  French  refugee  of  the  name  of  Pam- 
pellonne,  and  was  considered  a  school  of  great  celebrity. 
Only  a  very  limited  number  of  pupils  were  admitted, 
and  these  were  all  the  sons  of  men  of  good  position. 
Charles  James  Fox  was  there,  as  a  delicate  little  boy, 
previous  to  being  sent  to  Westminster  and  Eton,  but 
he  must  have  left  before  young  Coke  arrived,  and  the 
contemporaries  of  the  latter  appear  to  have  been  the 
future  Lord  Egremont  and  Lord  Ilchester,  the  Duke 
of  Leinster  and  Lord  Fortescue,  Lord  Braybrooke, 
Sir  T.  Faulkland,  Lord  Townshend,  Lord  Aylesford 
and  others,  many  of  whom  were  his  friends  in  later 
life. 

Long  years  afterwards  when  passing  Wandsworth  as 
quite  an  old  man,  Coke  was  delighted  to  find  it  so  little 
altered  that  he  was  able  to  trace  all  his  early  haunts  and 
associations,  of  which  he  spoke  with  an  almost  boyish 
enthusiasm.  From  this  school,  he  said,  he  was  recalled 
and  brought  to  the  house  in  Hanover  Square,  expressly 
to  catch  the  measles  from  his  sisters. 

At  the  age  of  ten  he  was  sent  to  Eton.  Here  again 
he  followed  closely  upon  the  steps  of  Charles  James 
Fox,  who,  a  lad  of  fifteen,  left  Eton  at  the  beginning  of 
the  summer  holidays  that  same  year.  Fox  left  behind 
him  the  reputation  of  having  been  the  most  good- 
natured,  most  careless,  and  most  slovenly  boy  in  the 
whole  school  ;  and  so  addicted  was  he  to  gambling, 
that  certain  places  were  pointed  out  to  young  Coke 
where  Fox  used  at  every  opportunity  to  be  engaged  at 
pitch -and -toss,  or  other  games  of  chance.  William 
Windham,  a  lad  of  fourteen,  who  did  not  leave  Eton 


80    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1764 

till  two  years  later,  was  famous  for  his  cricket  and  his 
fighting  ;  which  latter  accomplishment  afterwards  stood 
him  in  good  stead,  more  than  once,  at  county  elections. 
But  the  difference  in  age  between  him  and  young  Coke 
must  have  precluded  any  friendship  at  this  date  ;  and 
the  only  boy  whom  record  indicates  as  a  playmate  of 
Coke's  from  his  earliest  years  was  a  Harrow  boy, 
Francis  Rawdon,  afterwards  the  famous  Lord  Hastings,1 
who,  Coke's  junior  by  five  months  only,  became  one  of 
his  greatest,  as  he  was  one  of  his  lifelong  friends. 

One  of  the  events  of  Coke's  boyhood  which  he 
always  remembered,  was  going  abroad  with  Lord 
Moira,  Francis  Rawdon's  father,  who  took  him  to  a 
grand  review  at  Prague ;  and,  insisting  on  his 
wearing  regimentals,  equipped  him  in  a  scarlet  coat 
with  a  yellow  collar  and  plain  buttons.  The  pretty 
boy,  thus  picturesquely  dressed,  attracted  attention, 
and  several  people  observing  his  buttons,  coolly 
asked  him  what  regiment  he  belonged  to.  Being 
puzzled  for  an  answer  and  fearing  that  people  looked 
upon  him  as  a  picturesque  servant,  he  asked  Lord 
Moira  anxiously  what  he  should  say  if  any  more  ques- 
tioned him.  "  Oh,  say,"  replied  Lord  Moira  casually, 
"  that  you  belong  to  the  Militia  !"  Shortly  afterwards, 
several  other  people  came  to  him  and  questioned  him 
what  regiment  he  belonged  to.  On  his  saying,  "  To  the 
Militia  ! "  he  found,  to  his  dismay,  that  he  was  treated 
with  greater  contempt  than  ever. 

The  ruling  passion  of  young  Coke's  boyhood  was  a 

1  Francis  Rawdon,  son  of  first  Earl  of  Moira,  created  Baron  Rawdon, 
1783  ;  succeeded  his  father  as  second  Earl  of  Moira,  1793  ;  created 
Marquis  of  Hastings,  1816.    (b.  1754,  ob.  1826.) 


1764]  BOYHOOD  OF  THOMAS  WILLIAM  81 
love  of  sport.  Even  when  in  town  he  used  to  get  away 
from  the  streets — in  those  days  no  difficult  matter — and 
pursue  his  favourite  pastime  with  untiring  energy. 
Haydon1  mentions  how  Mr.  Coke  told  him  that  where 
Berkeley  Square  now  stands  was  an  excellent  place  for 
snipe.2  But  at  Longford  he  always  rose  before  day- 
light with  the  same  object.  He  first  made  his  way  to 
the  dairy,  where  he  coaxed  the  dairywoman  to  skim  the 
cream  for  him  till  he  had  filled  his  basin.  He  then  ad- 
journed to  the  bakehouse,  and  as  soon  as  the  oven  was 
drawn  he  broke  off  the  corner  crusts  from  the  loaves, 
which,  steeped  in  cream,  formed  his  breakfast.  Thus 
fortified,  he  went  off  for  the  day,  and  was  usually  at 
his  destination,  four  or  five  miles  from  home,  before 
dawn  broke.  Directly  it  was  daylight  he  began  his 
sport,  which  he  continued  till  darkness  fell,  contriving, 
if  possible,  to  leave  off  near  his  home.  No  weather  ever 
deterred  him  from  being  out  all  day.  His  naturally 
strong  constitution  was  thus  confirmed  by  the  life  he 
led,  by  his  habits  of  early  rising,  simple  food,  long 
days  in  the  fresh  air,  and  hard  exercise.  So,  too,  he 
developed  the  passionate  love  of  country  life  and 
country  amusements  which  never  left  him  throughout 
the  whole  of  his  career. 

Naturally,  such  an  existence  was  utterly  at  variance 
with  any  love  of  books  or  study  ;  and  he  must  have 
been  a  curious  contrast  to  his  studious,  intellectual 
father.    But  there  is  little  doubt  that  it  developed  in 

1  Benjamin  Robert  Haydon,  historical  painter,  1786-1846. 

2  Haydon 's  Journals  and  Correspondence,  Vol.  II,  p.  367.  Clive  com- 
mitted suicide  in  his  house  in  Berkeley  Square  in  1774,  so  the  Square 
was  standing-  at  that  date. 

I— G 


82  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1764 
young  Coke  other  characteristics  which  stood  him 
in  good  stead  in  after  life  ;  for,  besides  perfecting  the 
splendid  physique  for  which  he  was  always  remarkable, 
it  made  him  practical,  observant  and  self-reliant,  with 
a  mind  as  clean  and  healthy,  and  a  brain  as  actively 
alert  as  his  body  was  strong. 

At  Eton  all  his  leisure  was  spent  in  the  same  manner. 
His  popularity  was  great,  since  his  gun  provided  sup- 
pers for  his  schoolmates.  The  more  studious  among 
the  boys  would  offer  to  do  his  tasks  for  him  in  return 
for  the  game  with  which  he  provided  them.  On  one 
occasion  he  was  found  with  no  less  than  seventy  snipe 
in  his  room,  all  killed  by  himself.  On  another,  he 
narrowly  escaped  punishment  for  killing  a  pheasant 
in  Windsor  Park.  The  keeper  pursued  him  and  his 
associate  ;  they  escaped  by  a  boat  across  the  river,  but 
were  recognised,  and  his  companion  was  flogged  by 
Dr.  Foster  for  the  offence.  It  is  obvious  that  at  this 
early  age  he  was  a  most  remarkable  shot  ;  and  thus 
it  is  not  surprising  that,  in  later  years,  in  the  game- 
book  at  Holkham,  it  is  recorded  how,  in  fulfilment 
of  a  bet,  he  killed  eighty-two  partridges  out  of  eighty- 
four  shots  one  day  in  November, 

During  those  years  of  his  boyhood  he  saw  little  or 
nothing  of  the  relations  whose  name  he  bore.  In  1761 
Lady  Jane  Coke  died,  and  is  said  to  have  been  buried 
on  January  15th  of  that  year  at  Sunbury,  Windsor, 
where  she  had  resided  during  the  years  of  her  widow- 
hood. Subsequently  a  legend  sprang  up  round  her 
memory  at  Longford,  and  it  was  rumoured  that  the 
house  from  which  she  had  been  excluded  during  the 
latter  years  of  her  life  was  haunted  by  her  restless 


THOMAS  WILLIAM  COKK 
From  a  painting-  at  Holkham. 


1767]  BOYHOOD  OF  THOMAS  WILLIAM  83 
spirit.  After  dusk  the  vision  of  a  pale  lady  in  flutter- 
ing white  garments  was  seen  to  flit  along  the  corridor, 
where,  in  those  days,  her  portrait  hung  ;  and,  so  firmly 
was  this  legend  believed,  that,  for  half  a  century  after 
her  decease,  the  corridor,  when  daylight  faded,  was 
a  place  of  terror.  Often  during  the  days  of  his  boy- 
hood, young  Coke  heard  the  story  of  the  strange  figure 
seen  there  ;  but  one  thing  appears  certain — unless  he 
•saw  the  White  Lady  when  she  haunted  Longford,  he 
had  no  other  acquaintance  with  his  great-aunt,  Lady 
Jane. 

Still  more,  though  often  during  those  years  he  must 
have  heard  of  the  wonderful  house  at  Holkham  which 
would  one  day  be  his,  and  of  the  awe-inspiring  old 
lady  who  lived  there  in  lonely  state,  as  time  passed  by, 
he  saw  neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  Communication 
between  Lady  Leicester  and  the  family  who  were  to 
succeed  her  at  Holkham  was  little  to  her  taste.  She 
viewed  with  scarcely  disguised  animosity  her  nephew, 
Mr.  Wenman  Coke,  who,  although  only  eleven  years 
younger  than  herself,  might  one  day  step  into  the 
possession  of  all  which  had  not  been  intended  for  him, 
and  it  was  only  owing  to  an  unexpected  event  that  a 
meeting  between  the  aunt  and  nephew  at  last  took 
place. 

In  1767  Mr.  Coke,  without  Lady  Leicester  being 
apprised  of  the  matter,  was  asked  to  stand  for  the 
County  of  Norfolk.  Sir  Edward  Astley1  and  Sir 
Harbord  Harbord2  posted  to  Longford  on  purpose  to 

1  Born  1729,  died  1802,  represented  Norfolk  for  twenty-four  years  in 
Parliament. 

2  M.P.  for  Norwich.  Created  Baron  Suffield  of  Suffield,  August,  1786. 


84  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1767 
urge  him  to  offer  himself  for  nomination.  Such  a 
proposal,  though  extremely  flattering,  was  received  by 
him  with  very  distinct  dismay.  He  liked  his  quiet  seat 
for  Derby,  and  had  no  desire  to  put  himself  forward 
for  a  contested  election  in  a  county  with  which,  at 
present,  he  had  little  connection.  It  was,  however, 
difficult  to  refuse,  and  at  length,  after  much  persuasion, 
he  consented  to  go  to  Norfolk  in  order  to  judge 
personally  of  the  state  of  popular  feeling  there,  agree- 
ing to  decide  accordingly.  He  therefore  posted  back 
with  his  two  friends,  and  stayed  in  Norfolk  for  some 
weeks,  until  at  length  one  evening,  when  a  large 
party  was  assembled,  such  pressure  was  brought  to 
bear  upon  him,  that  he  reluctantly  gave  his  consent 
to  their  wishes. 

His  first  step  upon  coming  to  a  decision  was  to  wait 
upon  his  aunt  at  Holkham  in  order  to  acquaint  her  with 
the  fact. 

The  austere  lady  received  Mr.  Coke  with  unbending 
dignity.  As  upright  and  as  stately  as  of  yore,  with 
a  manner  more  rigidly  severe,  she  accorded  him  a 
frigid  attention  while  he  explained  the  cause  of  his 
visit.  Obviously  she  refused  to  give  him  any  credit 
for  his  conduct  in  the  matter.  Having  listened  to 
all  that  he  had  to  say,  she  finally  expressed  her  con- 
clusion :  "  Sir,  I  understand  you  have  come  to  nose  me 
in  the  county  !  " 

Mr.  Coke,  in  short,  retired  discomfited.  He  was 
nominated  in  conjunction  with  Sir  Edward  Astley 
on  the  8th  October,  1767.  Their  opponents  were  Sir 
A.  Wodehouse  and  Mr.  de  Grey.  The  election  took 
place  on  the  24th  March,  1768.    It  was  finished  in  one 


1767]      BOYHOOD  OF  THOMAS  WILLIAM  85 

day,  but  the  poll  did  not  close  till  nine  at  night.  The 
declaration  of  the  numbers  was  postponed  till  the  next 
day,  and  the  examination  of  the  books  occupied  from 
nine  in  the  morning  till  six  in  the  evening.  The 
numbers  were  as  follows  : — 


Sir  Edward  Astley  .  2977 
Thos.  De  Grey,  Esq.  .  2754 


Sir  A.Wodehouse  .  2680 
Wenman  Coke, Esq.  2609 


Thus,  to  Mr.  Wenman  Coke's  genuine  delight,  he 
found  that  he  had  lost  his  election,  and  he  returned  to 
Longford  fully  recognising  that  he  had  been  over- 
persuaded  to  stand  for  Norfolk  as  much  against  his 
own  judgment  as  it  was  certainly  against  his  own 
wishes. 

Yet  another  relation  of  young  Coke's  remained  for 
many  years  unknown  to  him,  save  only  as  strange 
rumours  respecting  her  must  have  penetrated  to  his 
family.  This  was  the  young  widow,  Lady  Mary  Coke, 
towards  whom,  likewise,  her  austere  mother-in-law 
doubtless  cherished  no  small  measure  of  resentment. 

From  the  moment  when,  in  1753,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
six,  Lady  Mary  had  been  released  from  her  dull  retire- 
ment and  uncertain  securityatSudbrook,her  life  had  been 
transformed.  No  longer  in  a  state  of  constant  humilia- 
tion and  fear,  she  found  herself  a  young  and  wealthy 
widow,  supported  by  the  good  opinion  of  the  world 
who  had  taken  her  part  in  the  tragedy  of  her  marriage. 
Without  pretending  a  sorrow  which  she  could  not  feel 
at  the  death  of  Lord  Coke,  she  showed  all  the  decorum 
which  good  taste  inspired ;  and,  the  period  of  her 
mourning  elapsed,  her  beauty,  her  wealth,  her  romantic 
history,  and  her  extraordinary  disposition,  soon  ren- 


86  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1768 
dered  her  a  figure  in  society  which  it  was  impossible 
to  ignore.  Her  warmth  of  heart  enchained  her  friends, 
her  excitable  temper  bred  imaginary  enemies ;  her 
extravagances  amused  both.  Her  world  was  a  world 
of  fantasy ;  while  she  took  herself  with  a  seriousness 
at  which  that  world  smiled. 

After  her  mother's  death  she  had  a  house  in  Notting 
Hill,  or,  as  it  was  called  in  those  days,  Nutting 
Hill,  which  had  a  large  garden  adjoining  Lord 
Holland's  park.  The  view  was  beautiful,  though  the 
position  was  somewhat  solitary,  being  then  two  and  a 
half  miles  from  London.  There  she  led  a  more  or  less 
rural  life,  diversified  by  visits  to  town  and  Court,  of 
which  she  has  left  a  most  curious  account  in  her  lengthy 
journals,  written  for  the  benefit  of  her  sister  Lady 
Strafford,  to  whom  they  were  sent  at  intervals.  And 
these  journals,  though  full  of  current  gossip,  are  never 
malicious.  They  prove  that  Lady  Mary  was  kindly  of 
heart,  thoughtful  to  her  dependents,  liberal  to  the  poor, 
and  that  her  conduct  was  above  reproach.  She  appre- 
ciated a  quiet  life,  and  spent  her  time  between  garden- 
ing, to  which  she  was  passionately  attached,  and  read- 
ing many  serious  books,  on  which  she  comments. 
She  was  a  great  advocate  for  fresh  air,  and  sat  out  of 
doors  daily,  even  in  the  winter.  She  kept  gold-fish, 
and,  when  dull,  fished  for  them  and  had  them  fried  for 
dinner.  She  kept  cows  and  poultry,  and  relates  every- 
thing connected  with  them— once,  how  "  Miss  Pelham," 
her  solitary  cow,  went  off  " on  a  frisk"  by  herself,  and 
got  nearly  to  London  before  she  was  discovered  in  a 
large  field  with  some  other  cows  whom  she  had  joined 
for  company.    On  Sunday  Lady  Mary  drove  to  the 


1768]      BOYHOOD  OF  THOMAS  WILLIAM  87 

country  church  of  Kensington,  and  listened  critically 
to  the  discourse  of  the  "  Clergy  Man,"  who  usually 
failed  to  please  her.  Occasionally,  when  the  roads 
were  bad,  she  was  forced  to  drive  round  by  the 
"  Brumton  Lanes,"  and  once  she  relates  how,  in  the 
Hammersmith  Road,  the  water  was  so  deep  that  it  came 
into  her  carriage.  Sometimes  she  took  a  house  in 
town  and  indulged  in  a  brief  spell  of  frivolity.  At  all 
times  she  loved  her  game  of  Loo,  and  played  constantly 
with  her  great  friend,  Princess  Amelia,  daughter  of 
George  II. 

As  might  be  expected,  with  her  temperament  and  her 
beauty  Lady  Mary  did  not  escape  romantic  episodes  in 
her  widowhood.  Horace  Walpole  was  her  avowed 
admirer ;  he  wrote  verses  to  her,  he  loved  her,  he 
laughed  at  her.  The  Duke  of  York,  brother  of 
George  III,  her  junior  by  fourteen  years,  indited  com- 
promising letters  to  her,  and,  it  was  hinted,  fled  from 
the  result.  She  had,  it  is  said,  a  mania  for  royal  per- 
sonages, and  for  being  loved  and  persecuted  by  them. 
"Tho'  a  great  lady,"  wrote  Horace  Walpole  of  her, 
"  she  has  a  rage  for  great  personages  and  for  being  one 
of  them  herself."  And  in  view  of  this  idiosyncrasy  on 
her  part,  it  is  difficult  to  arrive  at  a  just  estimate  of  the 
Duke's  attitude  towards  her ;  many  believed  that  a 
marriage  between  her  and  the  Duke  had  taken  place  j1 
others  derided  the  suggestion.  The  Royal  Marriage  Act, 
however,  had  not  then  been  passed,  and  if,  as  Lady 
Mary  and  many  of  her  friends  stated,  the  marriage  cere- 

1  Lady  Mary  "as  there  is  every  reason  to  believe,  was  married 

to  the  Duke  of  York"  (George  Selivyn  and  his  Contemporaries,  J.  H. 
Jesse,  Vol.  I,  p.  326). 


88    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1767 

mony  had  been  performed,  she  was  the  Duke's  legal 
wife.  Yet  the  King  used  to  smile  when  her  name  was 
mentioned,  and  the  Princesses  inquire  facetiously  after 
"our  sister  Mary"  ;  while  the  element  of  comedy  was 
increased  by  the  fact  that  the  Duke  of  York,  on  ac- 
count of  his  fairness,  was  known  as  "the  White  Prince," 
in  curious  similarity  to  Lady  Mary's  nickname  of  "  the 
White  Cat."  One  thing  only  is  certain  with  regard  to 
this  affair,  that  whatever  the  humorous  aspect  which 
the  situation  might  assume  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  to 
Lady  Mary  herself  it  presented  no  laughing  matter ; 
her  affections  were  involved,  and  she  was  genuinely, 
pathetically  unhappy. 

Thus  it  was  that  in  1767,  the  year  when  Mr.  Wenman 
Coke  visited  Norfolk,  Lady  Mary  was  fretting  out 
her  life  in  her  solitary  house  in  Notting  Hill.  That 
year  arrived  news  of  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  York, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  from  fever  at  Monaco,  and 
Lady  Mary,  despite  the  maturity  of  her  forty-one  years, 
gave  herself  up  to  grief.  Visions  of  her  vanished 
greatness  no  doubt  mingled  with  her  blighted  love  ; 
morbid  and  imaginative  she  dwelt  upon  her  loss,  and 
bitterly  resented  the  attitude  of  those  who,  very  natu- 
rally, did  not  view  it  from  her  own  standpoint.  There 
is  something  intensely  dreary  in  her  self-confession 
of  long,  lonely  days  spent  sitting  out  in  her  garden, 
even  till  night  fell,  upon  a  bitter  evening,  haunted 
perpetually  by  an  imaginary  tolling  of  bells  and  boom- 
ing of  the  cannon  which  would  ultimately  greet  the 
arrival  of  the  Duke's  body  in  England.  When  at  last 
the  funeral  had  taken  place  she  descended  into  the 
vault,  and  for  long  knelt  weeping  beside  the  coffin  of 


1767]      BOYHOOD  OF  THOMAS  WILLIAM  89 

the  man  who,  perhaps,  had  used  her  but  ill — a  cere- 
mony which  she  repeated  whenever  a  royal  funeral  gave 
her  opportunity.  Obliged  to  reappear  at  Court — per- 
force in  colours  and  bereft  of  all  hope  of  that  position 
to  which  she  had  aspired  —  she  experienced  acute 
anguish  ;  but  in  society  where  she  could  indulge  her 
inclinations,  she  wore  a  near  approach  to  widow's 
weeds. 

Thus  she  lived  her  life  at  Notting  Hill,  diversified 
occasionally  by  a  journey  abroad  and  a  visit  to  her  great 
friend,  the  Empress  Maria  Theresa.  Many  were  the 
stories  of  her  eccentricities,  her  fantasies,  her  adven- 
tures which  entertained  both  London  and  Vienna  ;  she 
remained,  as  Horace  Walpole  said,  "  Famous  for  scold- 
ing the  Living  and  crying  over  the  Dead."  But  Walpole, 
while  he  mocked,  confessed  himself  susceptible  to  her 
charm.  "  My  Heart,"  he  said,  "  is  faithful  to  Lady 
Mary."  On  one  occasion,  when  she  was  in  Paris,  he 
professed  himself  afraid  of  going  there.  "The  air  of 
Paris  works  such  miracles,  that  it  is  not  safe  to  trust 
oneself  there  "  ;  but  near  Amiens  he  encountered  her. 
"  Half  a  mile  thence  I  met  a  coach-and-four  with  an 
equipage  of  French  and  two  snivants,  and  a  lady  in 
pea-green  and  silver,  and  a  smart  hat  with  feathers.  .  .  . 
My  Heart  whispered  it  was  Lady  Mary  Coke."  Every- 
where she  was  laughed  at,  loved,  borne  with  ;  the 
victim — according  to  her  own  imagination — of  persecu- 
tion, foul  plots,  sorrows  and  adventures  which  befell 
no  other  mortal. 

But  possibly  worse,  in  her  own  estimation,  than  all 
the  evils  which  had  yet  been  her  portion,  was  in  store 
for  Lady  Mary.    The  Dukes  of  Gloucester  and  Cumber- 


90    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1767 

land,  her  actual,  or  at  one  time  her  prospective  brothers- 
in-law,  married  women  less  well-born  than  herself, 
both  of  whom  were  publicly  acknowledged  as  their 
legal  wives.1  That  she  personally  should  have  been 
publicly  deserted  by  the  Duke  of  York,  while  women, 
who  were  no  more  royal  than  herself  and  far  lower 
in  rank,  should  become  the  recognised  wives  of  the  two 
Princes,  was  intolerable  to  her.  Unable  to  bear  the 
torment  of  these  mesalliances  and  the  regrets  thereby 
made  poignant,  Lady  Mary  betook  herself  on  a  pro- 
longed tour  abroad ;  and  thus  it  was  that,  by  an 
unforeseen  chain  of  events,  she  first  encountered  her 
young  cousin,  Tom  Coke. 

1  The  Duke  of  Gloucester  (brother  of  George  III)  married,  in  1766, 
the  Dowager  Countess  of  Waldegrave,  the  illegitimate  daughter  of  Sir 
Edward  Walpole  (brother  of  Horace  Walpole)  by  Mary  Clement,  a 
milliner's  apprentice.  The  marriage  was  not  made  public  till  June, 
1772. 

The  King's  youngest  brother,  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  married, 
1771,  Anne,  daughter  of  Lord  Irnham  (afterwards  Earl  of  Carhampton) 
and  widow  of  a  Derbyshire  squire,  Andrew  Horton,  of  Catton. 

"There  appears,  indeed,  to  have  been  among  the  Kings,  and  in  the 
Royal  Family  of  England,  an  extraordinary  predilection  for  widows. 
The  three  uncles  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  (George  IV)  acted  the  same 
part.  I  know  that  Lady  Mary  considered  herself  united  to  Edward, 
Duke  of  York,  who  died  in  1767  at  Monaco,  by  as  legitimate  a  union  as 
the  Duchesses  of  Gloucester  or  of  Cumberland  were  united  to  their 
respective  husbands.  She  was,  indeed,  much  better  born  than  Miss 
Walpole  or  Miss  Lutterell,  being  daughter  of  John,  the  celebrated  Duke 
of  Argyle,  and  she  possessed  extraordinary  personal  beauty  (Wraxall : 
Memoirs  of  My  Own  Time  (1836),  Vol.  II,  p.  126). 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  GRAND  TOUR 
1771-1774 

s£tat  17-20 

TWO  years  after  the  death  of  the  Duke  of 
York  had  blighted  Lady  Mary's  life,  there 
took  place  the  first  wedding  in  Mr.  Wenman 
Coke's  family.  In  1769  his  elder  daughter, 
Margaret,  married  Sir  H.  Hunloke,  Bt.  After  this,  no 
event  of  any  importance  appears  to  have  occurred  until 
young  Coke  left  Eton  about  the  year  1771. 

He  had  returned  to  Longford,  and  his  father  was 
meditating  sending  him  to  one  of  the  Universities, 
when,  to  the  great  surprise  of  the  entire  family,  one 
day  there  arrived  a  letter  from  Lady  Leicester.  This 
letter  has  not  been  preserved,  but  Mr.  Coke  always 
said  that  he  could  never  forget  its  exact  wording  : — 

"Sir, — I  understand  you  have  left  Eton,  &  prob- 
ably intend  to  go  to  one  of  those  Schools  of  Vice, 
the  Universities.  If,  however,  you  chuse  to  travel 
I  will  give  you  £500  per  annum." 

Was  it  the  thought  of  her  own  son's  ill-starred  life 
and  early  death  which  prompted  this  sudden  interest 
in  another  youth  who  stood  on  the  threshold  of  exist- 
ence, and,  perhaps,  in  danger  from  those  very  Schools 

91 


92  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1771 
of  Vice  which  had  proved  that  son's  undoing?  Or 
was  it  mere  vanity  which  dictated  her  wish  that  the 
man  whom  she  was  forced  to  recognise  as  her  heir 
should  be  worthy  of  the  position  into  which  Fate  had 
thrust  him?  Who  shall  say?  On  one  point,  however, 
Lady  Leicester  was  still  resolute ;  she  would  never 
admit  Mr.  Wenman  Coke  to  be  her  heir,  for  she  was 
determined  to  outlive  him,  and  this  determination  alone 
may  have  influenced  her  to  acknowledge  as  her  suc- 
cessor a  representative  of  the  younger  generation. 

Mr.  Wenman  Coke  left  it  entirely  to  his  son's  option 
whether  he  accepted  or  refused  this  offer.  Possibly 
he  sympathised  more  fully  than  he  chose  to  admit  with 
Lady  Leicester's  horror  of  a  University  career.  For 
in  those  days  a  vicious  system  prevailed  at  the  Uni- 
versities. Students  of  noble  family  were  exempt  from 
any  examination  for  their  degrees ;  they  were  not 
allowed  to  enter  into  the  competition  for  honours, 
neither  was  their  attendance  at  college  lectures  en- 
forced. So  long,  in  fact,  as  they  abstained  from  flagrant 
misdemeanours,  they  were  free  from  academical  con- 
trol ;  and  this  last  stage  of  their  education  was  too 
often  the  first  stage  of  their  initiation  into  vice.  For 
this  system  created  a  clique  composed  of  youths  of 
wealth  as  well  as  of  youths  of  rank,  who  despised  learn- 
ing, idled  their  time,  frequented  Newmarket,  and  con- 
tracted debts  of  such  magnitude  that,  in  some  instances, 
they  were  hampered  by  these  throughout  their  entire 
after-life.  In  view,  therefore,  of  the  ill-fated  career 
of  the  last  heir  to  Holkham,  Mr.  Wenman  Coke  may 
well  have  trembled  at  the  prospect  of  exposing  his  son 
to  a  similar  fate  ;  but  without  giving  expression  to  any 


i77i]  THE  GRAND  TOUR  93 

such  sentiments,  or  attempting  to  influence  a  conclu- 
sion which  he  wished  to  be  unbiassed,  he  told  his  son 
that  if,  instead  of  going  to  the  University,  he  preferred 
to  go  the  grand  tour — then  considered  an  essential 
part  of  a  gentleman's  education — he  would  add  another 
£200  to  the  £500  allowance  offered  by  Lady  Leicester, 
the  whole  representing  a  far  larger  sum  in  those  days 
than  it  does  at  the  present  time.  And  young  Coke — 
with,  it  may  have  been,  all  his  future  hanging  upon 
his  decision — did  not  hesitate.  He  pronounced  at 
once  in  favour  of  travelling,  and  made  his  acknow- 
ledgments by  letter  to  Lady  Leicester,  acquainting 
her  with  his  acquiescence  in  her  wishes.  Shortly 
afterwards  he  received  another  dispatch  from  her, 
evidently  satisfied  with  his  decision,  and  inviting  him 
to  pass  a  month  at  Holkham  before  he  set  out  on 
his  travels.  With  feelings  of  the  greatest  excitement 
he  accepted. 

A  few  weeks  later,  therefore,  he  bade  farewell  to  his 
family,  and  left  Longford  on  what  he  knew  must  be 
an  absence  of  two  or  three  years. 

The  first  stage  of  his  journey  promised  to  be  by  no 
means  the  least  interesting.  It  was  late  on  a  beautiful 
evening  in  July  when  he  realised  that  he  was  approach- 
ing Holkham,  and  was  about,  for  the  first  time,  to 
see  his  future  home.  The  outlook,  however,  was  un- 
prepossessing. The  country  through  which  he  passed 
was  a  barren  sheep-walk,  bleak  and  ugly.1  Long 
spaces  of  shingle  and  marsh  land  stretched  down  to 
the  flat,  treeless  coast.    The  cottages  were  few,  and 

1  Arthur  Young-,  writing-  four  years  earlier,  1767-8,  says  that  "all 
the  country  from  Holkham  to  Houghton  was  one  wild  sheep-walk." 


94  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1771 
were,  as  he  afterwards  learnt,  inhabited  mostly  by 
smugglers  and  men  of  evil  reputation.  Pasture  there 
was  none  ;  the  only  places  in  which  cultivation  of  the 
land  had  been  attempted  showed  fields  of  thin,  miser- 
able rye. 

By  and  by  he  turned  in  at  the  park  gates,  and  for 
two  miles  drove  through  the  plantations  in  which  the 
young  trees  planted  by  Lord  Leicester  were  beginning 
to  make  the  landscape  less  bare.  But,  even  here,  art 
had  obviously  come  to  the  assistance  of  defective 
nature  ;  the  plantations  were  formal,  and  the  immature 
trees  served  to  emphasise  the  artificiality  of  their  sur- 
roundings. As  the  road  swept  up  the  hill,  the  Obelisk 
came  into  view  outlined  sharply  against  a  clear  even- 
ing sky ;  while,  below,  a  long  shining  arm  of  the  sea 
cut  the  broad  space  of  grass  land,  and  stretched  away 
again  to  the  distant  salt  marshes  which  were  clearly 
visible.  Then,  in  the  light  of  a  beautiful  sunset,  he 
saw  the  house  which  was  one  day  to  be  his.  It  stood 
in  the  midst  of  a  wide  sweep  of  turf,  the  tarnished 
gilding  on  the  window-sashes  and  columns  gleaming 
faintly  in  the  ruddy  light ;  the  grounds  about  it 
appeared  to  be  still  in  process  of  formation  ;  there 
were  as  yet  no  flower-beds,  no  gardens  to  soften  the 
severity  of  the  massive  pile  of  buildings ;  bare  and 
somewhat  forbidding,  it  stood  out  in  grand  isolation, 
the  lonely  centre  of  all  that  bleak,  lonely  land. 

As  his  coach  drove  up  to  the  front  door,  the  silence 
which  seemed  to  hold  the  place  in  a  spell  was  suddenly 
broken.  The  doors  were  opened,  and  his  reception 
was  most  impressive;  the  servants  in  their  state  liveries 
were  all  marshalled  in  the  hall  to  receive  him,  and  he 


i77i]  THE  GRAND  TOUR  95 

was  conducted  ceremoniously  to  the  great  ante-room, 
afterwards  named  the  Landscape  Room. 

There,  in  some  perturbation,  he  awaited  the  arrival 
of  his  formidable  aunt.  Before  long,  the  doors  were 
flung  open  by  two  attendants,  and  there  entered  a  lady, 
below  the  medium  height,  slight  in  figure  and  ex- 
quisitely dressed.  Her  small  but  pretty  features 
betrayed  little  of  the  haughty  nature  and  resolute 
determination  of  speech,  manners  and  purpose  which 
he  had  been  led  to  expect ;  in  fact,  her  whole  appear- 
ance, combined  with  the  studied  richness  of  her  dress, 
seemed  to  him  to  reveal  feminine  vanity  rather  than 
strength  of  mind.  He  was  soon  to  be  undeceived. 
She  seated  herself  beside  him  upon  the  sofa  in  silence, 
and  examined  his  features  with  great  earnestness.  No 
doubt  in  that  moment  she  was  thinking  of  the  dead 
son  to  whose  birthright  the  youth  before  her  was  to 
succeed.  Next,  she  addressed  him  firmly:  1 *  Young 
man,  you  are  now  for  the  first  time  at  Holkham,  and 
it  is  probable  that  you  will  one  day  be  master  of  this 
house ;  but  understand,  /  will  live  as  long  as  I  can  !  " 
and,  so  saying,  she  raised  her  clenched  hands  and 
shook  them  in  his  face  in  token  of  her  determination, 
with  such  vehemence  that  the  sofa  under  them  trembled 
with  her  agitation. 

At  nine  o'clock  a  sumptuous  supper  was  prepared, 
to  which  young  Coke  sat  down  alone,  but  attended  in 
full  state  by  a  large  retinue  of  servants. 

Early  the  next  morning,  as  may  be  imagined,  he 
hurried  out  to  explore  the  domain  which  held  for  him 
such  a  peculiar  interest.  The  keen  breath  of  salt  wind 
which  greeted  his  exit  from  the  house  must  have  come 


96  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [im 
in  sharp  contrast  to  the  mild  Derbyshire  air  from  which 
he  had  journeyed.  The  house  as  he  saw  it  upon  that 
July  morning  was  as  it  stands  to-day,  save  only  that 
to-day  the  building  is  encircled  by  a  terrace  with  gates 
of  finely  wrought  iron  and  gilding,1  while  on  one  side 
of  the  main  entrance  a  bronze  lion  keeps  guard,  on 
the  other  a  lioness;2  all  else  is  as  the  brain  of  Thomas 
Coke  conceived  it,  and  as  it  was  completed  by  the 
lonely  woman  who  for  sixteen  years  survived  him. 
The  park  land — then  stretching  away  from  the  very  foot 
of  the  walls — nine  miles  in  circumference  and  three 
miles  across,  conveys  an  impression  of  space  and  of 
solitude  impossible  to  describe.  From  the  building, 
a  wide  green  vista  rises  to  the  Obelisk,  and  thence  cuts 
through  the  centre  of  the  park  for  a  distance  further 
than  the  eye  can  scan.  Seven  different  approaches 
lead  to  the  house,  the  two  principal  of  which,  now 
called  respectively  Lady  Anne's  drive  and  the  Golden 
Gates,  stretch  away  again — the  one  to  the  sea  and  the 
other  inland — an  unbroken  line  of  white,  even  road, 
bordered  on  either  side  by  a  broad  sweep  of  turf, 
which,  at  a  space  wider  than  the  roadway,  is  edged 
by  magnificent  trees.  Along  the  Fakenham  approach 
from  the  Golden  Gates  is  a  triumphal  arch  planned 
by  Lord  Burlington,  whence  the  road,  rising  with 
the  hill,  approaches  the  Obelisk,  and  thence  passing 
the  Obelisk  wood,  branches  off  to  the  left,  where  it 
skirts  the  wide  expanse  of  lawn  on  the  south  front  of 
the  house.  On  its  right  stretches  the  lake — when  young 
Coke  gazed  upon  it  a  glittering  arm  of  the  sea— and 
then,  as  now,  frequented  by  wild-fowl  from  far  northern 

1  Put  up  by  the  present  Earl.        2  By  J.  Boehm,  the  sculptor. 


mi]  THE  GRAND  TOUR  97 

latitudes,  who  migrate  there  in  thousands.  Further, 
where  the  lake  winds  to  its  close  and  the  park  presents 
the  impression  of  a  lonely  forest,  the  presence  of  these 
birds  and  their  eerie  cries  seem  strangely  in  harmony 
with  what  appears  to  be  the  vast  solitude  of  their 
surroundings. 

No  vision  can  have  crossed  young  Coke's  boyish 
imagination  of  a  future  when  the  space  on  which  he 
then  gazed  would  be  a  richly  timbered  land  with  eleven 
hundred  acres  of  fine  woodland,  and  would  be,  more- 
over, situated  in  one  of  the  most  fertile  counties  in 
England.  Very  possibly  depressed,  rather  than  elated, 
at  the  unattractive  bareness  of  his  future  possession,  he 
returned  indoors,  and  there  made  further  discoveries 
which  were  not  reassuring.  He  soon  found  that  every- 
thing in  the  household  was  regulated  with  the  most 
scrupulous  exactitude  ;  the  hours  for  meals  were  kept 
with  the  most  rigid  punctuality  ;  the  days  presented  an 
unbroken  round  of  ceremonious  routine,  and  in  the 
language  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  his  great-aunt  lived — 

A  life  most  dull  and  dignified. 

The  restraint  of  such  an  existence,  the  terrible 
punctiliousness  with  regard  to  details,  and  above  all, 
the  oppressive  ceremony  with  which  he  was  treated  and 
which  Lady  Leicester  considered  his  due  as  heir  to  the 
property,  soon  became  very  irksome  to  a  boy  fresh 
from  school,  and  above  all,  to  a  high-spirited  lad  of 
simple  tastes,  who  was  devoted  to  a  free  outdoor  life. 

Nor  was  he  allowed  to  enliven  this  monotony.  On 
the  third  evening  of  his  visit,  while  taking  a  walk,  he 
met  the  resident  chaplain,  whose  name  was  Cole,  and 

I.— H 


98    COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i77* 

invited  him  to  come  in  to  supper.  The  next  morning, 
meeting  his  friend  again  in  front  of  the  house,  he  was 
proceeding  to  enter  into  conversation,  when  the  old 
divine  earnestly  requested  that  Mr.  Coke  would  not 
speak  to  him  but  would  walk  off  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion, as  the  Countess  had  taken  him  severely  to  task  for 
accepting  the  invitation  on  the  preceding  night.  More- 
over, when  Coke  came  to  the  breakfast-table,  Lady 
Leicester  desired  to  know  from  him  what  had  induced 
him  to  take  the  liberty  of  asking  the  chaplain  to 
supper.  The  young  man  answered  that  he  had  passed 
three  days  almost  in  solitude,  and,  feeling  that  a  clergy- 
man was  a  gentleman  by  education  and  by  profession, 
he  had  requested  his  company  with  a  view  to  enjoying 
his  conversation.  "Sir,"  said  the  dame  coldly,  "if  I 
had  considered  him  fit  company  for  you,  I  should  have 
invited  him  myself." 

Another  chaplain  Lady  Leicester  appears  to  have  had, 
a  Mr.  Kinderly,  who  probably  read  prayers  at  the 
church  in  the  park.  Of  good  Norfolk  family,  his  for- 
tunes had  become  impoverished,  and  he  had  entered 
the  Church,  whereupon  he  had  been  presented  by  the 
Corporation  of  Norwich  with  the  perpetual  curacy  of 
St.  Helen's,  near  North  Walsham.  Lady  Leicester,  on 
hearing  of  this,  further  presented  him  with  a  chaplaincy 
at  Holkham ;  and  it  was  forthwith  a  common  sight  to  see 
the  learned  ecclesiastic  hastening  from  Norwich  to 
Holkham,  the  whole  of  which  journey,  a  matter  of 
forty  miles,  he  invariably  performed  on  foot,  arriving  at 
Holkham  before  breakfast !  In  order  to  accomplish  this, 
he  was  forced  to  leave  his  home  at  one  or  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  and  his  daughter  on  one  occasion  received 


THE  REV.  JOHN  KINDERLEY,   M.A.,   MATERNAL  GRANDFATHER  OF 

SIR  JAMES  EDWARD  SMITH 
From  a  picture  by  Gainsborough  in  the  possession  of  Francis  Pierrepont  Barnard 


i77i]  THE  GRAND  TOUR  99 

the  severest  reproof  he  ever  gave  her  for  altering  the 
clock  to  retard  his  hour  of  setting  off.1 

Young  Coke,  however,  attempted  to  make  no  more 
friends  ;  but  his  first  delinquency  was  soon  succeeded 
by  another,  for  a  few  mornings  later  he  did  not  reach 
the  breakfast-room  till  some  minutes  after  the  appointed 
hour.  At  Holkham  no  sound  of  a  gong,  however 
powerful,  could  penetrate  to  the  distant  sleeping-apart- 
ments, but  the  Countess  recognised  no  palliation  of 
the  infringement  of  her  rigid  punctuality,  and  demanded 
in  her  authoritative  manner — "  Why  was  he  so  late?" 
"Madam,"  he  replied,  u  to  say  the  truth,  I  lost  my 
way  and  wandered  about  the  passages  and  rooms,  till  I 
found  a  servant  who  conducted  me  here."  The  severity 
of  the  old  lady's  countenance  relaxed,  the  apology 
proved  an  appeal  to  her  pride,  and  she  replied  more 
soothingly,  "Indeed,  it  is  not  easy  to  find  the  way 
about  this  house  !  " 

She  was  equally  particular  with  regard  to  any  of  her 
relatives  who  came  to  visit  her.  While  young  Coke 
was  with  her,  Lord  and  Lady  De  Grey  came  to  pass 
part  of  their  honeymoon  at  Holkham,  and  they  were 
not  allowed  to  escape  a  severe  scolding  for  a  similar 
breach  of  etiquette. 

About  the  middle  of  his  visit,  Coke  received  a  letter 
from  his  father  advising  him  to  go  to  Norwich  during 
the  Assizes,  in  order  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  some 
of  the  country  gentlemen  who  were  friends  of  the 
family.  He,  accordingly,  stated  his  father's  wishes  to 
Lady  Leicester,  and  asked  her  permission  to  do  this. 

1  Memoir  and  Correspondence  of  Sir  James  Edward  Smith,  by  his  wife, 
Lady  Smith,  Vol.  I,  p.  6. 


ioo  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1771 

She  received  the  request  in  silence  ;  but  the  following 
morning  she  informed  him  that  she  had  no  objection 
to  his  going  to  the  Assizes,  provided  he  went  in  proper 
state  and  in  her  own  carriage. 

He  expressed  his  sense  of  the  obligation  he  was 
under  to  her,  and  orders  were  forthwith  given  by 
her  for  his  proper  attendance  on  the  journey.  The 
state  equipage  was  got  ready,  and  in  this,  drawn  by 
six  horses  with  postillions  and  outriders,  and  followed 
by  a  large  retinue  of  other  servants,  young  Coke  set 
out  to  make  an  almost  royal  entry  into  the  city.  At 
Bawdeswell,  a  village  half  way,  the  coachman  repre- 
sented to  him  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  rest  the 
horses  for  some  hours,  and  on  entering  the  inn  there 
Coke  found  that  the  most  costly  dinner  the  place 
could  provide  had  been  prepared  for  him  by  the 
Countess's  orders,  conveyed  by  a  messenger  sent  on 
the  day  before.  At  this  meal,  which  was  a  lengthy 
one,  he  was  attended  in  full  state  by  the  servants  who 
accompanied  him. 

In  about  three  hours  the  coachman  announced  that 
the  horses  were  able  to  complete  the  journey  which  poor 
Mr.  Kinderly  accomplished  with  far  less  consideration. 

Coke  met  with  a  kind  reception  from  his  father's 
friends  in  Norwich,  and  made  several  acquaintances 
which  ripened  into  lifelong  friendships,  although  he 
outlived  all  those  who  were  then  his  contemporaries. 

After  the  Assizes,  he  returned  to  Holkham  in  the 
same  state  in  which  he  had  set  forth,  and  the  old  lady 
was  most  particular  and  minute  in  her  inquiries  re- 
specting all  that  had  passed.  She  was  especially 
anxious  to  discover  with  whom  he  had  danced  at  the 


i77i]  THE  GRAND  TOUR  101 

ball  at  the  Assembly.  Coke  told  her  with  Miss  Pratt. 
"  Miss  Pratt!  Miss  Pratt !"  echoed  the  Countess,  her 
ideas  of  dignity  much  upset  by  the  name  of  a  com- 
moner, "Who  is  she?  and  what  could  make  you 
condescend  to  dance  with  her  ?  "  He  explained  that  she 
was  the  prettiest  girl  in  the  room.  "  Pretty  !  Pretty  !  " 
contemptuously  reiterated  the  dame.  "  Sir,  you  should 
have  led  out  no  one  of  lower  rank  than  Miss  Walpole  !  " 

At  length  the  time  arrived  when  young  Coke,  with 
little  regret,  bade  farewell  to  the  monotonous  life  at 
Holkham  and  set  forth  on  his  travels,  with  less  cere- 
mony, but  no  less  eager  intelligence  than  had  his  great- 
uncle  sixty-two  years  before.1 

Some  months  were  first  spent  by  him  studying  at  the 
University  at  Turin,  as  his  great-uncle  had  done 
before  him.  There  he  found  another  Englishman, 
who,  moreover,  came  from  Norfolk,  Martin  ffolkes 
Rishton  by  name,  and  who  was  destined  to  be  after- 
wards closely  connected  with  many  of  Coke's  political 
campaigns  in  that  county. 

Mr.  Rishton's  history  was  somewhat  peculiar.  His 
grandfather  was  Martin  ffolkes,  Esq.,  of  Hillington 
Hall,  near  Lynn,  who  had  been  named  Vice-President 
of  the  Royal  Society  by  Newton,  and  who  contested, 
but  failed  to  win,  the  Presidentship  on  the  death  of  the 
latter.  Mr.  ffolkes  had  inherited  Hillington  from  his 
mother,2  but  having  no  son,  the  estate  on  his  death  was 

1  Different  dates  are  given  with  regard  to  his  departure  and  to 
the  length  of  his  tour  abroad.  It  is,  however,  certain  that  he  was 
abroad  during  the  years  1771-1774,  and,  since  he  told  Mr.  Bacon  that  he 
first  saw  Holkham  in  the  month  of  July,  this  points  to  his  having  started 
on  his  tour  in  the  month  of  August,  1 77 1 . 

2  One  of  the  three  co-heiresses  of  Sir  William  Hovell. 


102  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1771 
destined  to  pass  to  his  brother.  He  had,  however,  two 
daughters,  co-heiresses  to  the  rest  of  his  property, 
Dorothy  and  Lucretia.  Now  Dorothy,  we  are  told, 
foolishly  ran  away  with  "  an  indigent  person"  of  the 
name  of  Rishton,  who  "  used  her  ill."  Lucretia,  on  the 
other  hand,  married  Richard  Bettenson,  who,  by  1773, 
had  succeeded  to  a  baronetcy  and  a  large  income.  At 
her  father's  death,  therefore,  although  he  left  his 
daughters  ;£i  2,000  apiece,  the  younger,  the  sensible 
Lucretia,  was  made  his  executrix  and  heiress  to  most  of 
his  valuables.  But  Lucretia  had  no  children,  so  after 
her  death  her  husband  adopted  as  his  heir  his  nephew 
and  ward,  the  son  of  the  unhappy  Dorothy.  Thus  it 
was  that,  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1771,  Martin 
ffolkes  Rishton,  son  of  Dorothy  and  "the  indigent 
person,"  was  sent  to  travel  on  the  Continent  for  two 
years  by  his  uncle  and  guardian,  the  rich  Mr.  Betten- 
son ;  and  no  doubt  young  Coke  in  his  exile  hailed 
with  delight  a  fellow-countryman  and  a  man  from  the 
neighbourhood  of  his  future  home,  so  that  the  friendship 
thus  started  by  chance  was  cemented  by  circumstance. 

From  this  meeting  with  Mr.  Rishton  followed  another 
encounter,  of  greater  interest  than  Coke  can  then  have 
recognised.  Touring  abroad  in  177 1  were  the  Burneys, 
who,  on  meeting  Martin  Rishton,  must  have  hailed  him 
as  an  old  acquaintance.  For  nine  years,  from  1751  to 
1760,  Dr.  Burney  had  been  organist  at  St.  Margaret's 
Church,  Lynn  ;  and  in  that  town  his  daughter  Fanny 
had  been  born.  There,  too,  apart  from  receiving  what 
was  at  that  date  the  excellent  salary  of  £100  a  year,  his 
duties  had  permitted  him  considerable  leisure,  and  he 
had  thus  become  music-master  at  most  of  the  great 


1772]  THE  GRAND  TOUR  103 

houses  in  the  neighbourhood,  visiting  in  this  capacity 
the  Cokes,  Walpoles,  Townshends,  and  Wodehouses,  so 
that  it  is  probable  that  Martin  Rishton's  present  com- 
panion abroad,  the  future  heir  to  Holkham,  came  in  for 
no  inconsiderable  a  share  of  his  interest.  It  is  not 
unlikely  that  young  Coke  and  the  agreeable  pedagogue 
compared  their  experiences  of  Holkham  and  of  its 
austere  inmate  ;  or  that  Dr.  Burney  retailed  with  pride 
to  his  new  acquaintance  how,  jogging  along  to  his 
pupils  through  the  quiet  Norfolk  lanes,  his  old  mare, 
Peggy,  had  moved  with  such  a  leisurely  gait  that  he 
had  found  it  possible  to  study  an  Italian  book  by  the 
aid  of  a  dictionary — and  now,  in  this  foreign  tour, 
undertaken  in  order  to  collect  material  for  his  famous 
History  of  Music,  he  hoped  to  feel  the  benefit  of  such  a 
course  of  study.  Be  that  as  it  may,  this  chance  en- 
counter with  the  family  of  the  afterwards  celebrated 
writer,  Fanny,  had  an  unexpected  result  upon  the  future 
of  one  of  the  young  men,  and  set  an  untimely  limit  to 
Martin  Rishton's  brief  attempt  to  do  the  grand  tour. 

Since  the  days  of  his  residence  at  Lynn,  Dr.  Burney 
had  married  again,1  and  now  travelling  abroad  with 
him  was  his  pretty  stepdaughter,  Maria  Allen.  The 
young  people,  Martin  Rishton  and  Maria  Allen,  fell  in 
love,  and  were  secretly  married  at  Ypres  on  May  16th, 
1772.  The  deed  had  to  be  confessed — of  which  con- 
fession Fanny  Burney  gives  a  lively  description  in  her 
journal — and  Martin  Rishton,  as  rash,  but  more  fortu- 
nate than  his  mother  had  been  before  him,  returned  from 
his  curtailed  tour  abroad  the  husband  of  a  charming  wife. 

1  His  second  wife  was  the  daughter  of  Alderman  Allen,  of  Lynn,  the 
grandson  of  John  Allen,  Esq.,  of  Lyng  House,  Norfolk. 


104  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1772 

Another  Englishman  who,  curiously,  was  also  a 
Norfolk  man,  appears  to  have  visited  Turin  during 
Coke's  residence  there,  Thomas  Kerrich,  who  was 
travelling  with  a  friend,  Mr.  Daniel  Pettiward,  the 
owner  of  a  very  picturesque  country  house  at  Putney, 
called  Fairfax  House.1  Coke  made  the  acquaintance 
of  these  two  fellow-countrymen,  and,  as  we  shall  hear, 
often  subsequently  encountered  Mr.  Kerrich  at  various 
places  during  his  tour,  in  which  he  was  fortunate,  as 
he  could  not  have  had  a  better  guide  to  the  antiquities 
which  he  wished  to  see.  Still  in  existence  is  a  play- 
ing-card,2 presumably  belonging  to  this  date,  on  which 
is  crudely  painted  the  seven  of  hearts,  while  the  reverse 
conveys — 

Travellers,  however,  were  not  very  plentiful  in  those 
days,  and,  for  the  greater  part  of  his  stay  in  Turin, 
Coke  was  the  only  Englishman  in  the  place,  and  was 
wholly  dependent  upon  foreign  society. 

Now  already  at  this  date  he  was  exceptionally  hand- 
some, and  as  a  youth  of  great  personal  attraction, 
besides  being  the  heir  to  a  considerable  property,  he — 

1  It  afterwards  stood  in  the  main  street  of  Putney,  and  was  pulled 
down  about  fifteen  years  ago. 

2  At  that  date  informal  invitations  were  often  conveyed  thus  on  a 
playing-card. 


1772]  THE  GRAND  TOUR  105 

like  his  great-uncle  before  him — excited  unusual  in- 
terest upon  the  Continent,  where  he  was  soon  known 
as  "  Le  bel  Anglais."  The  King  of  Sardinia  showed 
him  great  attention  and  welcomed  him  at  Court.  Upon 
the  occasion  of  a  Court  ball,  given  previous  to  the 
departure  of  the  King's  daughter,  the  Princess  of 
Savoy,  who  was  about  to  be  married  to  the  Comte 
d'Artois,  his  Majesty  beckoned  to  young  Coke  and 
assigned  to  him  the  honour  of  dancing  with  her  Royal 
Highness.  Still  unaccustomed  to  foreign  life,  Coke 
felt  himself  under  the  disagreeable  necessity  of  pleading 
his  ignorance  of  the  cotillion,  which  was  at  that  time 
the  dance  of  the  Court.  The  King,  however,  would 
not  admit  his  excuses,  but  good-naturedly  assured 
him  that  "the  ladies  would  soon  instruct  him."  And 
instruct  him  they  did,  by  twitching  him  energetically 
into  his  place  till  he  found  the  dance  as  merry  as  any 
in  his  own  country.  When  the  Princess  set  forth  from 
her  father's  capital,  Coke  gallantly  made  one  of  her 
escort  as  far  as  Cambray. 

He  seemed  destined  to  cross  the  path  of  royal 
brides,  for  soon  another  adventure  befell  him,  through 
which  runs  the  vein  of  an  incipient  but  a  very  curious 
romance.  In  the  spring  of  1772,  all  Europe  was  excited 
by  the  news  that  a  marriage  had  taken  place  between 
the  young  Pretender,  Charles  Edward,  grandson  of 
James  II,  and  the  Princess  Louise  of  Stolberg,  daughter 
of  the  late  Gustavus  Adolphus  of  Stolberg-Gedern, 
who  had  fallen  in  1757  fighting  for  the  House  of 
Austria.  The  marriage  by  proxy  took  place  in  Paris, 
in  the  month  of  March,  the  greatest  secrecy  being 
observed  for  fear  of  interference  on  the  part  of  Austria, 


106  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1772 

since  the  Princess  was  a  special  protegee  of  the  Empress 
Maria  Theresa,  whose  consent  to  the  alliance  had  not 
been  asked.  As  soon  as  possible  afterwards,  the  actual 
nuptials  were  celebrated  at  Marcarta,  near  Arcona. 

Coke  cannot  have  been  present  at  the  secret  marriage 
in  Paris,  but  since  he  used  to  relate  that  he  had  escorted 
the  Princess  to  Rome  subsequently  to  her  wedding,  he 
must  have  been  present  at  the  actual  ceremony  which 
took  place  soon  after  noon  on  Good  Friday,  April  17th, 
1772,  in  the  private  chapel  of  the  Marafoschi  Palace. 

Although  neither  the  day  nor  the  hour  of  the  ceremony 
had  been  made  public,  many  English  who  were  abroad 
at  that  time  flocked  to  witness  it,  and  a  large  number 
of  the  Italian  nobility  were  also  present.  Charles 
Edward  signed  the  register  as  Charles  III,  King  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  ;  and  an  inscription  was  put 
up  in  the  chapel  to  record  his  marriage  under  that  title. 

On  the  two  days  following  the  marriage,  receptions 
were  given  at  the  palace  to  all,  both  English  and 
Italians,  who  were  within  available  distance.  At  five 
o'clock  on  Easter  Sunday,  April  19th,  the  royal  pair 
set  out  for  Rome,  accompanied  by  several  of  their  late 
guests.  They  performed  the  journey  with  royal  pomp, 
and  were  greeted  by  an  immense  concourse  of  people 
on  their  arrival. 

Many  festivities  were  forthwith  given  in  their  honour. 
By  their  own  Court  they  were  treated  as  King  and 
Queen,  but  by  the  Pope  and  Roman  society  they  were 
formally  accorded  the  rank  of  Prince  and  Princess  of 
Wales.  The  Princess  at  this  time  was  twenty  years 
of  age,1  and  exceedingly  pretty.    Bonstetten  states  that 

1  She  was  born  in  1753. 


1772]  THE  GRAND  TOUR  107 

she  had  the  complexion  of  an  English  girl,  a  dazzlingly 
fair  skin,  dark  blue  eyes,  a  slightly  retrousse  nose,  and 
a  piquant,  fascinating  manner.  Great  as  were  her 
personal  attractions,  however,  her  mental  capacity  was 
greater,  and  had  been  carefully  fostered  in  the  convent 
where  she  had  been  placed  as  canoness  since  the  age 
of  six.  It  is  not  surprising  that  Charles  Edward,  fifty- 
two  years  of  age,  and  already  degraded  in  mind  and 
person  by  a  life  of  excess,  did  not  appeal  to  the  imagi- 
nation of  the  high-spirited,  gifted  girl  so  strongly  as 
did  the  handsome  young  Englishman  whose  mental 
and  physical  charms  were  in  harmony  with  her  own. 

At  a  grand  fancy-dress  ball  at  Rome  young  Coke 
danced  with  the  Pretender's  Queen,  and  although  a 
staunch  Whig  in  principles,  he  was  too  gallant  to  refuse 
the  white  cockade  with  which  she  presented  him.  In 
token  of  the  impression  which  his  appearance  had  made 
upon  her,  she  afterwards  gave  him  a  life-sized  portrait  of 
himself  which  was  painted  by  Battoni  at  her  command. 

This  picture,  which  is  a  very  striking  and  beautiful 
one,  is  now  at  Longford.  Coke  is  represented  as  tall, 
and  of  magnificent  proportions.  The  pose  of  the  figure 
is  natural  and  singularly  graceful.  His  face,  which 
perhaps  conveys  the  impression  of  a  man  rather  older 
than  he  was  at  this  date,  is  a  long  oval,  and  bears  a 
marked  resemblance  to  that  of  his  father,  Mr.  Wenman 
Coke  ;  his  hair  is  fair  and  turned  back  from  a  forehead 
which  is  high  and  intellectual ;  the  eyes  are  remark- 
ably fine  and  full  of  expression  ;  the  nose  is  straight 
and  well  formed ;  the  mouth  possibly  less  firm  and 
determined  than  it  is  depicted  in  later  life,  and  with 
lips  which  are  full  and  mobile.    He  is  wearing  the 


io8  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1772 
masquerading  dress  in  which  he  danced  with  the 
Queen,  a  coat  and  breeches  of  pearl-grey  satin  em- 
broidered in  rose  colour  ;  over  the  left  shoulder  hangs 
a  cloak  of  rose  colour  lined  with  ermine  ;  in  his  right 
hand  is  a  Cavalier  hat  with  rose  and  grey  plumes. 
In  the  background  is  a  vista  of  Italian  scenery  and 
some  classical  colonnades,  while  immediately  behind 
him,  and  extending  across  the  picture,  is  a  statue  of  a 
love-lorn  Ariadne. 

This  statue,  at  one  time  supposed  to  represent 
Cleopatra,  is  an  antique  in  the  Vatican  at  Rome. 
"The  reclining  Ariadne,  then  called  the  Cleopatra," 
wrote  George  Eliot  with  regard  to  it,  "lies  in  the 
marble  voluptuousness  of  her  beauty,  the  draping  fold- 
ing her  around  with  a  petal-like  ease  and  tenderness."1 
It  was  well  known  that  the  Princess  considered  this 
statue  to  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  herself,  and 
certainly  a  fanciful  likeness  may  be  traced  between  the 
face  of  the  Ariadne,  as  portrayed  in  the  picture,  and 
the  face  of  Louise  of  Stolberg  at  the  time  of  her 
marriage,  as  represented  in  a  print  still  extant  at  the 
British  Museum.  Thus  it  is  not  improbable  that  the 
Princess  may  have  impersonated  the  subject  of  the 
statue  at  the  ball  where  she  danced  with  young  Coke  ; 
but  the  fact  of  so  suggestive  a  figure  being  introduced 
into  the  picture  with  marked  prominence,  by  her 
express  command,  gave  rise  to  much  comment,  and, 
we  may  imagine,  to  no  little  amusement  among  those 
who  read  a  subtle  meaning  into  its  presence  there. 
Horace  Walpole,  later,  speaking  of  the  "young  Mr. 
Coke,"  remarked  how  "the  Pretender's  Queen  has 

1  Middlemarch,  Vol  I,  p.  340. 


/s?/ fhmy  draw. 


1773]  THE  GRAND  TOUR  109 

permitted  him  to  have  her  picture,"1  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  this  figure  in  Battoni's  picture  was  the 
origin  of  Walpole's  gossip,  since  the  belief  was 
universally  accepted  that  the  statue,  as  represented  in 
the  picture,  was  an  actual  likeness  of  the  Princess. 

There  is  no  evidence  that  Louise,  although  she 
visited  England  in  1791,  ever  again  met  the  object  of 
her  early  romance,  but  many  years  afterwards,  when 
Coke's  eldest  daughter,  Lady  Andover,  was  staying  in 
Florence,  the  Princess,  better  known  as  the  Countess 
d'Albani,  paid  a  visit  to  her,  and  recurred  with  much 
feeling  to  the  recollection  she  still  retained  of  the  young 
and  handsome  Mr.  Coke.2 

Young  Coke  lingered  in  Rome,  entering  into  all  the 
gaieties  and  amusements  of  continental  society,  and  no 
doubt  appreciating  the  distinction  conferred  upon  him 
by  the  avowed  admiration  of  the  Pretender's  Queen. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  events  of  his  visit,  how- 
ever, was  his  presentation  to  the  Pope,  Clement  XIV 
(Ganganelli)3,  a  venerable  prelate  whose  striking  face, 
upright  figure  and  strong  personality  were  familiar  to 
all  the  dwellers  in  Rome  at  that  date,  where  he  ruled 
as  the  most  absolute  and  the  most  autocratic  potentate 
in  Christendom,  and  whence  he  stirred  Italy  to  its 
depths,  in  1773,  by  " extirpating  and  abolishing"  the 

1  In  a  letter,  August  18th,  1774,  to  H.  S.  Conway. 

2  Lord  Ronald  Gower  used  to  relate  that  when  staying  at  Aix-les- 
Bains,  he  pointed  out  to  Her  Majesty,  the  late  Queen  Victoria,  that  a 
man  was  actually  living  whose  father  had  had  tender  passages  with  the 
Pretender's  Queen.  Her  Majesty,  he  says,  would  not  credit  it,  until  he 
had  explained  the  circumstances  fully. 

3  Clement  XIV,  born  1705,  elected  Pope  in  succession  to  Clement  XIII 
in  1769,  died  September  22nd,  1774. 


no  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1773 
Jesuits,  the  greatest  "  concession  ever  made  by  a  Pope 
to  the  spirit  of  his  age."1  Kerrich,  Coke's  acquaintance 
from  Turin,  who  shared  the  honour  of  a  presentation, 
records  how — 

"  Ye  Pope  seems  to  be  an  exceedingly  good  sort 
of  man  &  particularly  civil  to  ye  English  ;  he  asked 
us  if  we  had  got  good  lodgings,  &  hoped  we  should 
meet  with  no  affronts  in  his  territories  ;  if  we  should, 
he  beg'd  we  should  immediately  make  our  complaint 
to  him,  &  sometimes  adds,  (by  way  of  compliment,  I 
suppose) — that  he  does  not  expect  we  shall  have 
much  occasion  for  his  assistance,  as  the  English  are 
no  Geese  &  can  usually  speak  for  themselves  !  " 

Often  afterwards,  Coke's  thoughts  must  have  reverted 
to  that  interview  with  the  wonderful  old  prelate,  whose 
simple  courtesy  charmed  him,  and  whose  tragic  fate  he 
then  so  little  anticipated.  The  history  of  that  murder 
— for  such  there  is  little  doubt  it  was — may  be  told  here, 
although  it  belongs  to  a  later  date,  and  only  reached 
the  knowledge  of  Coke  after  his  return  to  England. 
Possibly  the  most  brief,  but  one  of  the  most  interesting 
acquaintances  which  Coke  made  in  the  course  of  a  long 
life,  Clement  XIV  has  descended  to  posterity  as  one  "of 
the  best  and  most  calumniated  of  all  the  Popes,"2  a  man 
of  ability,  of  gentleness,  and  of  strength  ;  but  of  his 
exceptional  power  of  work,  and  of  certain  more  inti- 
mate details  of  his  life  and  character,  all  that  is  known 
is  preserved  in  the  letter  in  which  Kerrich  wrote  to  an- 
nounce his  death. 

"October  1774 

"You  know,  I  suppose,  by  ye  papers  that  we  have 
lost  poor  Clement  14th,  I  say  4 we'  for  I  believe  ye 

1  EncyclopcEdia  Britannica,  2  Op.  cit. 


1774] 


THE  GRAND  TOUR 


in 


English  are  ye  people  ye  most  sorry  for  his  death.  I 
believe  I  told  you  in  a  former  letter  how  much  atten- 
tion and  civility  he  shew'd  to  all  ye  people  of  our 
country,  &  indeed  it  was  so  much  at  some  times  as  to 
make  his  own  subjects  grumble.  One  of  ye  last 
actions  of  his  reign  was  ye  making  an  Englishman 
master  of  his  Galleys,  a  place  which  I  am  told  will 
bring  him  in  near  2  thousand  a  year ;  it  is  ye  nephew 
of  an  English  picture  merchant  he  had  a  great  regard 
for. 

"  No  body  seems  to  doubt  but  he  was  poisoned,  &  it 
is  certain  he  himself  had  for  many  months  suspected 
it  would  be  attempted,  &  every  day  took  Antidotes, 
which,  too,  he  had  from  England,  and  often  2  or  3 
times  ye  Quantity  prescribed  him  ;  &  would  suffer 
no  body  to  dress  his  meat  but  an  old  Franciscan 
brother  who  used  to  wait  upon  him  when  he  was  a 
poor  man  &  liv'd  in  his  Convent. 

"The  Pope  lived  in  his  Convent  till  rather  an  old 
man,  his  name  Lorenzo  Ganganelli,  son  of  an 
Apothecary  in  ye  Country.  They  tell  us  that  one 
day  when  he  was  standing  by  to  see  a  Procession  of 
ye  then  Pope  Clement  13,  he  was  rather  roughly 
handled  by  one  of  ye  Swiss  Guard,  who  rudely  pushed 
him  aside  with  his  Halbard,  and  some  body  said  to  ye 
Man,  you  don't  know  now,  but  ye  poor  Friar  you  use 
thus  may  one  day  be  Pope,  which  they  say  struck 
him  so  much  that  it  always  ran  in  his  head  that  it 
was  a  kind  of  Prophecy. 

"However,  he  remain'd  unknown  in  his  Convent 
many  years  after,  till  it  happened  that  ye  Pope  and 
Cardinals,  who  I  believe  are  rather  an  indolent  sett  of 
men,  got  into  some  puzzle  about  their  accompts  & 
found  it  would  be  rather  a  troublesome  piece  of  work 
to  set  them  right,  so  one  of  them  said,  *  I  know  an 
old  Franciscan  Father,  Ganganelli,  a  clear-headed, 
hard-working  old  fellow,  let's  set  him  about  them.' 
He  was  accordingly  sent  for,  applied  to  ye  matter  in 
good  earnest,  and  settled  their  affairs  so  much  to  their 
satisfaction,  that  ye  Pope  kept  him  always  afterwards 
near  his  Palace,  &  found  him  of  great  service  to  him 


ii2  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1774 


as  he  grew  old,  and  less  &  less  fit  for  business  his 
self ;  &  at  length  made  him  a  Cardinal,  but  he  was 
still  so  poor  &  had  so  little  preferment  that  he  had 
to  live  retired,  &  was  not  able  even  to  keep  a  coach, 
but  was  forced  always  to  beg  a  place  with  one  of  ye 
other  Cardinals  in  his,  at  all  Public  Ceremonies. 

"  At  ye  death  of  ye  Pope  they  were  a  long  time  in 
agreeing  which  of  them  should  succeed  him,  they 
were  divided  very  much,  &  one  Party  would  not 
give  up  their  Friend,  nor  another  their's,1  they  were 
tired  of  ye  Contest,  &  at  last  cast  their  eyes  on 
Cardinal  Ganganelli,  who  was  nobody's  friend,  they 
look'd  on  him  too  as  a  mere  Accomptant,  &  as  his  life 
had  been  spent  in  a  Convent,  thought  it  not  likely  he 
could  know  much  of  ye  world,  so  they  could  rule  him 
&  manage  affairs  as  they  pleased  if  he  were  Pope, — 
&  let  it  be  how  it  would,  he  could  not,  they  thought, 
plague  them  long,  as  he  was  old,  &  appeared  infirm, 
&  I  believe,  walked  with  a  stick. 

"So  they  agreed  that  he  should  be  Pope;2  and 
behold,  he  began  to  walk  more  upright,  and  quickly 
convinced  them  by  his  management  he  was  by  no 
means  unacquainted  with  ye  world,  &  so  far  were 
they  from  ruling  him,  that  not  a  Cardinal  of  them, 
they  say,  during  his  whole  reign,  knew  any  more  of 
what  was  going  forwards  in  affairs  of  State  than  you 
or  I  did 3 — he  look'd  into  everything  his  self,  grew 
very  active,  &  was  one  of  ye  most  hearty  grey- 
headed old  men  I  ever  saw.  He  used  to  go  every 
evening  to  a  house  he  had  a  mile  from  Rome  to  play 
at  Bildeards,  which  he  was  very  fond  of,  &  I  used  to 
see  him  frequently  in  ye  Summer  walking  home 
again  as  briskly  as  a  much  younger  man,  before  his 
coach,  his  guard  following  him  on  horseback,  his 
Gentlemen  attending  with  their  Hats  off,  etc.  ;  for  he 
was  very  exact  in  keeping  up  to  ye  dignity  of  his 

1  The  Conclave  lasted  three  months  and  three  days,  and  became 
tumultuous. 

2  He  was  proclaimed  Pontiff  on  May  19th,  1769. 

3  When  his  Cardinals  murmured  at  his  want  of  confidence,  his  reply 
was — "  I  sleep  sound  when  my  secret  is  my  own." 


1774] 


THE  GRAND  TOUR 


ii3 


character  when  he  appear'd  in  publick.  In  his  living 
he  was  frugal,  ordered  his  dinner  every  day  at  about 
£  a  crown,  which  he  said  he  knew  would  buy  as  much 
as  he  could  eat,  &  he  did  not  like  to  see  more  upon 
ye  table.1  All  his  expences  seems  to  have  been  in 
Pictures  and  Statues  &  in  taking  care  of  those  already 
in  his  Palaces — so  he  grew  very  rich,  though  he  was 
every  day  diminishing  his  revenue  by  taking  off 
taxes  laid  by  his  Predecessors  on  ye  People  ;  but  has 
not  employed  his  money  as  is  generally  ye  case  in 
raising  &  enriching  his  family  ;  he  has  left  them 
enough  to  live  comfortably,  but  ye  whole  Bulk  of  his 
Fortune  goes  to  ye  Publick,  without  having  reserved 
even  enough  to  raise  him  a  monument. 

"  He  seems  not  to  have  cared  whether  he  were 
remembered  or  not.  When  he  was  dying,  or,  at 
least,  past  recovery,  they  begg'd  him  to  consider  ye  13 
or  14  Gentlemen  he  intended  to  make  Cardinals  who 
might  not  perhaps  have  that  honour  conferr'd  upon 
them  by  a  succeeding  Pope,  &  besides  as  he  had 
made  but  few,  he  should  do  so  to  perpetuate  his 
memory.  He  answer'd  he  had  enough  to  do  now  to 
run  over  in  his  Mind  ye  actions  of  his  past  Reign,  & 
consider  how  he  was  to  answer  for  them,  without 
increasing  them  by  making  Cardinals.  .  .  . 

"We  have  had  a  good  deal  of  Ceremony  at  his 
funeral,  but  not  all  that  is  usual,  for  his  body  putri- 
fied  almost  immediately,  and  they  could  not  keep  it 
long  enough.2 

"  The  Cardinals  go  into  Conclave  to-day,  where 
they  must  stay  till  they  can  agree  on  a  New  Pope  ; 
there  are  between  50  &  60  of  them,  each  has  3  little 

1  When  the  head  cook  of  the  Vatican  came  to  beg  that  he  might 
continue  in  the  office  of  chef,  Clement  XIV  replied — "You  shall  not 
lose  your  appointment,  but  I  will  not  lose  my  health  to  keep  your 
hand  in"  {Interesting  Letters  of  Pope  Clement  XIV,  Vol.  I  (1777)). 

2  About  April,  1774,  in  the  fullness  of  his  health  and  vigour,  Clement 
XIV  was  smitten  with  a  mysterious  and  lingering  disease  which  could 
only  be  attributed  to  a  subtle  poison  ;  and  the  fact  that  his  body 
turned  black  immediately  after  death  confirmed  the  belief  that  he  had 
thus  fallen  a  victim  to  the  resentment  of  the  Jesuits. 

I. — I 


# 


ii4  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i774 

rooms,  built  on  purpose  in  ye  Great  apartments  of 
ye  Vatican,  &  they  are  built  this  time  in  Rooms 
where  are  pictures,  which  I  am  sorry  for,  as  I  fear  ye 
dust  and  dirt  of  building  will  do  them  no  good, — for 
poor  Ganganelli  had  fill'd  ye  useless  empty  rooms 
of  ye  Palace  where  they  used  to  be  made,  with 
corn,  which  was  to  be  sold  to  ye  People  at  ye 
usual  price  in  case  of  any  scarcity. 

"  I  am  afraid  you  will  be  tired  of  this  letter,  which 
I  perceive  I  have  fill'd  with  histories  of  Clement  ye 
14th  ;  but  he  talked  familiarly  with  us,  laid  his  hands 
upon  our  heads  and  bless'd  us,  &  in  short  was  my 
Pope,  &  I  can't  help  being  sorry  for  him  &  full  of  ye 
Story  of  his  Death."1 

1  Original  correspondence  of  the  families  of  Rogerson,  Postlethwayte, 
Gooch  and  Kerrich,  1633-1828,  in  the  possession  of  Albert  Hartshorne. 


1773] 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  GRAND  TOUR  CONTINUED 
i773~I774 

AZtat.  19-20 

IN  Rome  Coke  met  several  of  his  friends  from 
England  ;  and  when  finally  he  journeyed  on  to 
Naples  they  appear  to  have  accompanied  him, 
amongst  others  being  his  old  playmate,  Francis 
Rawdon.  They  were  fortunate  while  in  Naples  in 
being  the  eye-witnesses  of  a  famous  eruption  of  Mount 
Vesuvius,  said  at  the  time  to  be  one  of  the  greatest 
eruptions  which  had  ever  taken  place.1  The  following 
morning  Coke  ascended  the  mountain  with  his  two 
friends,  and  a  picture  of  this  feat  was  painted  for  him 
by  a  man  of  the  name  of  Heygate,  and  was  hung  in 
the  chapel  wing  at  Holkham.  Coke  is  represented 
near  the  summit  of  the  cone  in  company  with  Lord 
Rawdon  ;  Lord  Mountmorres,  with  a  group  of  spec- 
tators, is  placed  near  the  base  in  the  foreground.  The 
mountain  is  still  in  a  state  of  eruption. 

1  One  account  states  that  it  was  Mount  Etna,  not  Vesuvius.  I  have 
been  unable  to  trace  that  any  remarkable  eruption  is  recorded  as  having 
taken  place  about  this  date  from  either  mountain,  save  that  Fanny 
Burney,  writing-  in  1772,  mentions  how  "Sir  William  Hamilton,  a  very 
curious  man  .  .  .  spoke  with  great  pleasure  of  the  fine  eruptions  he  had 
seen,  and  told  us  that  Mount  Etna  was  now  playing  the  devil"  {The 
Early  Diary  of  Frances  Burney,  Vol.  I,  p.  172). 

US 


n6  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1773 
A  peculiar  interest  is  attached  to  this  picture  by  the 
presence  of  Francis  Rawdon.  He  had  already  de- 
voted himself  to  the  service  of  his  country,  and  the 
year  following  was  appointed  to  a  lieutenancy  in  the 
5th  Foot,  and  embarked  for  America.  Three  years 
later  he  was  one  of  the  heroes  of  Bunker's  Hill,  where 
he  had  two  bullet  wounds  through  his  cap  while  fight- 
ing in  the  trenches.  He  told  Coke  afterwards  how  in 
that,  the  first  battle  he  was  in,  he  experienced  at  the 
commencement  a  feeling  of  great  terror.  Suddenly  a 
soldier  by  his  side  was  shot  dead.  He  looked  at  the  man 
lying  quiet  and  senseless  at  his  feet,  and  exclaimed, 
"  Is  death  nothing  but  this?"  From  that  moment  he 
never  knew  what  fear  meant. 

From  Naples  Coke  went  to  Herculaneum,  where  the 
first  excavations  and  discoveries  were  then  being  made. 
The  love  of  art  must  have  been  inherent  in  him,  for 
his  previous  education  and  pursuits  had  certainly  not 
been  calculated  to  develop  it ;  yet  he  profited  by  his 
surroundings  to  secure  some  unique  treasures,  which, 
but  for  his  ancestry,  it  would  have  been  very  remark- 
able that  a  youth  of  his  age  should  have  had  the 
discrimination  to  appreciate.  Unlike  Thomas  Coke, 
however,  he  had  not  a  large  fortune  at  his  disposal ;  his 
life  in  Rome  and  the  recent  purchase  of  his  expensive 
fancy  dress  had  been  a  great  drain  on  his  limited 
finances,  therefore  it  says  much  for  his  prudence  and 
economy  that  he  was  able  to  spare  enough  from  his 
travelling  allowance  to  buy  such  invaluable  treasures. 

One  was  the  bas-relief  by  Michelangelo,  which  now 
adorns  the  Egyptian  Hall  at  Holkham,  and  which  the 
best  judges  have  pronounced  to  be  among  the  finest 


1773]      THE  GRAND  TOUR  CONTINUED  117 

works  of  the  master  ;  another,  an  antique  mosaic,  now 
placed  in  the  library  there,  which  is  considered  to  be 
one  of  the  most  perfect  specimens  in  the  world. 

A  further  purchase  was  a  magnificent  antique  of 
Minerva.  It  was  very  large  and  set  transparent,  there 
being  four  layers  of  sardonyx.  Chantrey  and  West- 
macott  afterwards  agreed  that  it  was  the  finest  antique 
they  had  ever  seen.  It  was  subsequently  protected  by 
a  gold  back  and  glass,  and  was  often  worn  by  his 
youngest  daughter1  as  a  jewel. 

Yet  another  treasure  which  he  acquired  was  possibly 
still  more  curious.  He  was  present  when  the  tomb  of 
Nonius  the  Senator  was  opened,  and  in  it  was  found 
the  famous  red  opal  ring  of  which  Pliny  makes  special 
mention.  It  is  said  that  Antony  wanted  this  ring  for 
Cleopatra,  and  that  Nonius  was  banished  because  he 
refused  to  give  it  up.  An  old  account  says:  "  He 
hugged  himself  in  his  banishment  and  refused  to  part 
with  his  ring."  Coke  secured  it  immediately  it  was 
taken  out  of  the  tomb  and  before  any  one  else  had  seen 
it.  He  always  refused  to  say  what  he  had  given  for 
it,  but  it  was  then  valued  at  a  sum  equivalent  to 
£20,000  of  our  present  money.2 

Unfortunately,  it  was  afterwards  given,  with  other 
of  her  mother's  jewellery,  to  his  youngest  daughter, 
when  she  was  too  young  to  realise  its  value  as  an 
antique.  She  ordered  it  to  be  reset  with  diamonds,  in 
order  to  wear  it  as  a  pendant,  and  the  original  setting 
was  lost  by  the  jeweller,  who  thought  it  worthless. 

1  Eliza  Coke,  afterwards  Lady  Elizabeth  Spencer  Stanhope. 

2  It  is  now  an  heirloom  in  the  family  of  Sir  Walter  Spencer  Stanhope, 
K.C.B.,  of  Cannon  Hall,  Yorkshire. 


n8  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [*773 

Thus  far  the  date  of  young  Coke's  return  to  England 
remained  undecided,  and  was  to  be  dependent  upon 
events  in  the  political  world.  At  that  period  there 
seems  to  have  been  a  universal  desire  on  the  part  of 
statesmen  to  get  their  sons  into  Parliament  at  an  early 
age.  Charles  James  Fox  was  elected  before  the  age 
which  the  law  allows,1  and  Mr.  Wenman  Coke  was 
anxious  that  at  the  next  General  Election  his  son 
should  stand  for  the  representation  of  Norfolk.  That 
this  had  already  been  determined  upon  is  shown  by  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Kerrich,  who,  writing  on  October  30th, 
1 773,  to  his  sister  at  Burnham,  Norfolk,  remarks  : — 

"I  hope  ye  rioting  people  about  ye  corn  in  your 
part  of  the  world,  did  you  no  mischief.  I  heard  of 
them  accidentally  by  means  of  young  Mr.  Coke  who 
I  fancy  knew  it  by  a  letter  from  Holkham,  and  told 
it  me  as  a  Norfolk  man  ;  by  ye  bye  I  should  think 
if  Sir  Hugh2  has  no  other  connections  which  prevent 
it,  he  might  as  well  vote  for  him  at  ye  next  election, 
but  perhaps  he  intends  it,  I  forget  which  way  he 
voted  last  time.  I  have  promised  him  mine,  and 
really  think  Sir  Hugh  cannot  employ  his  better." 

While  still,  therefore,  awaiting  a  summons  home,  in 
the  autumn  of  1773,  Coke  went  to  Florence.  There 
also,  in  November,  arrived  his  eccentric  relation  Lady 
Mary,  better  known  now  amongst  her  acquaintances 
as  "  Queen  Mary."  Driven  from  home  by  the  mesalli- 
ances of  the  Royal  Dukes,  she  had  first  betaken 
herself  to  Vienna,  where  she  had  many  friends,  and 
where  she  had  hoped,  in  the  light  of  royal  favour  and 
foreign  society,  to  have  found  balm  for  her  outraged 

1  He  sat  for  Midhurst  when  only  nineteen  (1768). 

2  "  Sir  Hugh  "  was  the  nom  de  plume  of  Mr.  Kerrich's  brother-in-law 


1773]      THE  GRAND  TOUR  CONTINUED  119 

feelings.  But  still  her  ill-fortune— or  so  she  deemed 
it — pursued  her.  A  short  time  previously  Maria 
Theresa  had  treated  the  wife  of  the  Duke  of  Cumber- 
land with  a  distinction  which  was  peculiarly  offensive 
to  Lady  Mary.  Lady  Mary  had  expressed  her  opinion 
freely  thereupon  in  her  letters  from  England  to  her 
friends  in  Vienna,  and  on  arriving  there  once  more 
she  fancied  the  Empress  estranged  and  that  Viennese 
society  looked  coldly  upon  her.  She  drew  her  own 
conclusion.  "  No  doubt  but  her  Majesty  saw  all  the 
letters  I  wrote  to  Vienna  from  England,  and,  as  I  did 
not  write  them  for  her,  I  presumed  to  express  my 
surprise  at  some  of  the  things  she  had  done."  Forth- 
with the  belief  took  possession  of  Lady  Mary  that 
every  contretemps  which  befell  her,  in  every  part  of  the 
world,  was  the  direct  result  of  the  enmity  of  the 
Empress,  or  of  Marie  Antoinette  at  the  instigation  of 
her  mother.  It  was  no  use,  Horace  Walpole  com- 
plained, attempting  "  to  convince  her  that  the  Empress 
did  not  know  and  the  Queen  did  not  care."  It  suited 
Lady  Mary  to  believe  that  she  was  the  object  of  plots 
and  of  persecution  planned  by  the  crowned  heads  of 
Europe.  Imagining  herself  flouted  at  Vienna,  she 
betook  herself  to  Florence.  Horace  Walpole  there- 
upon wrote  to  Sir  Horace  Mann,  the  British  Minister 
in  Florence,  to  enlist  his  services  for  Lady  Mary. 

"  Bating  every  English  person's  madness,"  he  ex- 
plained—  "for  every  English  person  must  have  their 
madness — Lady  Mary  has  a  thousand  virtues  and 
good  qualities.  She  is  noble,  generous,  high-spirited, 
undauntable,  and  most  friendly,  sincere,  affectionate, 
and  above  every  mean  action.  She  loves  attention 
and  I  wish  you  to  pay  it — even  for  my  sake — for  I 


120  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [W3 


would  do  anything  to  serve  her.  I  have  often  tried 
to  laugh  her  out  of  her  weakness,  but  as  she  is  very- 
serious,  she  is  so  in  that,  and  if  all  the  Sovereigns 
in  Europe  were  to  slight  her,  she  would  put  her  trust 
in  the  next  generation  of  Princes.  Her  heart  is  ex- 
cellent, and  deserves  and  would  become  a  Crown — 
and  that  is  the  best  of  all  excuses  for  desiring  one." 

But  Lady  Mary  was  not  at  all  gracious  to  Sir  Horace 
Mann,  and  Walpole  had  to  write  again  to  console  the 
dejected  Minister  and  to  urge  him  to  persevere  in 
civility  to  the  lady,  in  spite  of  disheartening  rebuffs. 
Meanwhile,  Lady  Mary  had  discovered  that  her  young 
cousin,  Mr.  Coke,  was  in  Florence,  and  desired  to  see  him. 
Unfortunately,  no  record  of  that  interview  has  survived; 
possibly  Lady  Mary  received  him  in  her  costume  of 
pea-green  and  silver,  and  surprised  him  by  blood- 
curdling tales  of  the  assassinations  and  dangers  she 
had  so  narrowly  escaped.  One  thing  we  may  con- 
clude, she  was  extremely  curious  to  see  the  youth  who 
was  to  succeed  to  all  of  which  her  husband  had  once 
been  heir  ;  and  there  is  no  trace  of  jealousy  in  the 
entry  in  which  she  mentions  how  he  made  a  favourable 
impression  on  her.  In  her  Journal  of  November  30th, 
1773,  in  Florence,  she  writes  : — 

"  I  am  much  better  pleased  with  the  town  and 
country  about  it  then  [sic]  I  am  with  any  other  part 
of  Italy  I  have  seen.  There  are  a  great  many 
English  gentlemen  here,  among  others,  Mr.  Coke. 
It  seems  Lady  Leicester  desired  he  might  be  sent 
abroad  and  gives  him  £500  a  year.  He  is  a  very 
pretty  man  and  a  good  deal  more  fashioned  than  his 
sister  Lady  Hunluck  ;  as  he  is  to  have  a  very  great 
estate,  I  am  glad  he  is  so  worthy  of  it."1 

1  Lady  Mary  Coke's  Journal,  privately  printed.  Ed.  by  the  Hon. 
James  Home. 


1773]      THE  GRAND  TOUR  CONTINUED  121 

Shortly  after  this,  Lady  Mary  had  an  open  rupture 
with  Horace  Walpole.  She  had  made  up  her  mind 
to  return  to  England,  when  Lady  Barrymore  enticed 
away  her  favourite  valet  and  factotum,  an  incident  in 
which  Lady  Mary  at  once  recognised  the  work  of  the 
Empress  Maria  Theresa,  who,  by  leaving  her  un- 
protected, hoped  to  murder  her  upon  her  journey  home. 
She  flew,  therefore,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  to 
Horace  Walpole,  whom  she  looked  upon  as  her  cava- 
liere  servente,  and  implored  his  protection,  when  Horace 
Walpole  committed  the  egregious  crime  of  laughing 
at  her  fancied  danger.  This  Lady  Mary  never  for- 
gave. Although  long  afterwards  she  condescended  to 
play  cards  with  him  and  admitted  him  to  a  more 
distant  friendship,  she  hated  him  from  that  day  for- 
ward and  pronounced  him  "as  false  as  ever  he  could 
be,"  while  she  remarks  in  her  Journal  with  supreme 
seriousness : — 

"  I  have  not  the  same  pleasure  in  meatting  him  as 
I  used  to  have,  since  I  knew  him  to  be  so  False  to 
me.    Thank  God  /  cou'd  not  be  so  to  anybody  !  " 

But  despite  the  misfortunes  of  the  persecuted  Lady 
Mary,  young  Coke  found  the  life  in  Florence  almost  as 
attractive  as  the  life  in  Rome.  Many  English  were 
staying  there  at  that  time,  the  society  was  extremely 
pleasant,  and  a  great  number  of  balls  and  masquerades 
took  place,  especially  during  the  Carnival  festivities  in 
the  spring  of  1 774.  Although  his  own  account  of  his  life 
there  is  lost,  we  gather  an  outline  of  it  from  the  letters 
of  his  travelling  friend,  Mr.  Kerrich,  who  still  journeyed 
in  his  track. 


122  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [>774 


"  Florence,"  pronounced  Mr.  Kerrich,  writing  on 
January  31st,  1774,  "is  one  of  the  most  agreeable 
places  I  ever  was  in,  though,  to  be  sure  it  is  not 
always  so  gay  as  at  present,  in  the  height  of  ye 
Carnival,  indeed  it  is  so  much,  it  would  begin  to 
grow  tiresome  if  it  continued  much  longer,  there  are 
so  many  diversions  &  amusements,  people  all  wish 
to  split  themselves  &  scarce  know  which  to  go  to 
first. 

"  There  are  always  a  great  many  English  here,  who 
live  very  sociably  and  agreeably  together,  without 
being  much  plagued  with  formality  &  ceremony,  one 
reason  there  are  so  many  of  them  may  probably  be  our 
having  so  worthy  a  man  for  Minister  here  as  Sir 
Horace  Mann,  who  seems  to  be  one  of  ye  most  bene- 
volent, friendly  men  I  have  ever  met  with. — But  I 
perceive  I  have  not  told  you  what  ye  amusements  con- 
sist of,  though  I  have  said  a  great  deal  of  ye  number 
of  them.  First,  ye  morning  is  generally  taken  up 
with  ye  Gallery,  which  is  open  gratis,  &  one  may 
stay  there  5  or  6  hours  together  if  one  likes  it.  In  ye 
evening  there  are  I  don't  know  how  many  Theatres 
open,  &  at  one  of  them  there  is  a  Ball  in  a  Room 
behind,  into  ye  bargain,  ye  whole  for  the  great  price 
of  what  they  call  a  Paul,  which  is  not  quite  sixpence. 
And  there  are  3  or  4  others  during  ye  week;  ye  reason 
there  is  so  much  dancing,  I  suppose,  is  because  ye 
people  of  ye  Court  are  fond  of  it ;  ye  Great  Duke 
his  self  often  makes  one,  but  in  a  mask,  which  as  it 
must  be  mix'd  Company  (Everybody  being  admitted 
who  is  mask'd  or  even  that  has  a  Mask  or  a  wax  nose 
stuck  in  his  hat) — I  suppose  is  thought  necessary. 

"There  is  besides  a  more  polite  assembly,  to  which 
none  but  ye  Nobility  of  ye  place  &  foreigners  intro- 
duced by  their  Minister  are  admitted,  the  people  there 
unmask,  as  does  ye  Great  Duke,  when  he  comes. 
He  is  a  young  man,  rather  slender  &  seems  very 


And  to  that  "polite  assembly,"  to  meet  the  "Great 
Duke,"  went  the  irate  "Queen  Mary,"  her  cynical 


1774]      THE  GRAND  TOUR  CONTINUED  123 


lover  Horace  Walpole,  the  depressed  Sir  Horace 
Mann,  and  young  Coke,  eager  for  every  amusement 
which  the  place  afforded.  But  after  the  Carnival  fes- 
tivities many  of  the  English  left  Florence,  and  Coke 
himself  appears  to  have  taken  his  departure  with  the 
intention  of  embarking  for  home.  However,  as  Kerrich 
relates:  "Finding  ye  weather  stormy  and  himself  not 
very  well,  he  changed  his  plan,  and  determined  to  take 
ye  way  by  land  through  France,  and  came  by  Genoa  in 
his  return  to  Turin,  and  call'd  upon  us,  so  we  ran 
about  to  see  Milan  together,  though  as  his  disorder 
turned  out  an  ague  he  could  not  accompany  us  in  all 
our  expeditions." 

And  Kerrich  proceeds  to  relate  one  of  these, 
which — 

"was  so  very  agreeable  &  had  something  so  new 
in  it  that  I  think  it  worth  giving  some  account  of. 
It  was  to  the  Borromean  Islands — they  are  two 
very  small  ones  in  what  they  call  ye  greater  Lake, 
which  is  about  30  Miles  from  Milan,  &  runs  up  a 
good  way  among  ye  Alps,  ye  voyage  to  ye  Islands 
is  a  short  one  of  16  or  18  miles,  ye  country  grows 
higher  &  more  rockey  on  both  sides  as  you  get 
nearer  them ;  they  are  very  near  each  other,  & 
belong  to  two  noblemen  of  ye  same  family,  from 
which  they  take  their  name  of  Borromean  ;  they 
seem  to  have  spared  no  expense  to  make  them 
elegant,  one  of  them  has  quite  a  small  theatre 
where  he  can  amuse  himself  &  his  friends  during 
two  or  three  of  ye  Hottest  months  of  ye  summer, 
which  is  ye  time  these  gentlemen  usually  retire  to 
their  seats,  with  plays  ;  the  Houses  seem  calculated 
to  be  as  cool  as  possible  so  that  what  with  ye  water 
&  ye  cool  breezes  from  ye  mountains  that  surround 
them,  which  have  always  some  snow  on  them,  they 
must  at  that  time  of  the  year  be  delightful.  We 


124  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i774 


were  lucky  in  having  a  very  fine  day,  &  returned 
by  moonlight  to  a  little  town  at  ye  beginning  of  ye 
lake  where  we  had  taken  up  our  quarters  ye  Night 
before,  &  had  stocked  our  boat  with  Provisions  for 
the  little  voyage."1 

Again  Coke  appears  to  have  changed  his  plans, 
for  in  the  spring  we  find  him  once  more  in  Rome, 
and,  on  April  16th,  going  another  expedition  with 
Thomas  Kerrich  and  eight  others  to  Tivoli,  under 
the  direction  of  an  English  antiquary.  Kerrich,  when 
writing  to  his  aunt,  gives  an  account  of  this  expedition 
also : — 

"  I  am  now  answering  the  letter  sent  thither  to  me 
from  Florence  which  made  it  come  later  to  my  hand 
than  it  ought  to  have  done,  &  my  being  just  setting 
out  with  a  party  to  see  Tivoli,  Frascati  (where 
Cicero's  country  house  was),  and  some  other  places 
about  20  miles  from  Rome,  prevented  my  answering 
it  immediately;  I  know  an  account  of  this  expedition, 
as  it  proved  an  agreeable  one,  will  not  be  tedious.  I 
will  begin,  therefore,  &  tell  you  ;  there  were  about 
ten  of  us,  who  had  at  least  spent  many  agreeable 
hours  together  at  Turin  last  year,  &  ye  English 
Antiquarian  who  went  to  instruct  us.  The  first  place 
we  went  to,  Tivoli,  was  formerly  very  flourishing,  & 
famous  for  ye  country  seats  of  Maecenas,  ye  patron 
of  Horace  and  Adrian  [stc]y  one  of  ye  most  learned 
&  most  accomplished  of  ye  Roman  Emperors. 
After  having  visited  most  parts  of  his  very  extensive 
Empire  and  collected  various  curiosities  in  his  travels, 
he  chose  this  spot,  which  is  one  of  ye  most  delight- 
ful I  have  yet  beheld,  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his 
life  in.  His  Palace  was  very  extensive,  on  ye  whole, 
they  say,  taking  altogether,  near  nine  miles  in 
circuit ;  it  had  apartments  fitted  up  in  ye  various 

1  Thomas  Kerrich  to  his  maternal  aunt  Elizabeth  Postlethwayt  at 
Burnham,  Norfolk.  From  the  MS.  collection  of  Albert  Hartshorne, 
Esq. 


1774]      THE  GRAND  TOUR  CONTINUED  125 

tastes  of  many  of  ye  countreys  he  had  passed 
through.  Very  little  of  all  this  magnificence  now 
remains,  except  part  of  a  temple  in  ye  Egyptian 
taste,  &  two  theatres,  one  of  which  they  say  is  ye 
most  perfect  now  remaining.  I  wished  my  sister  had 
been  with  us  to  hear  ye  long  account  they  gave  of  ye 
different  parts  of  it,  I  believe  some  of  our  party  had 
quite  enough  of  it ;  however  we  went  to  our  lodgings 
&  eat  very  heartily  of  ye  cold  provisions  we  brought 
with  us ;  ye  place  itself  (at  least  in  Lent)  would 
afford  nothing  but  Eggs  and  Pigeons,  so  we  gave 
commission  to  a  Swiss  Servant  to  provide  for  us,  who 
took  care  we  should  have  enough  ; — 6  fowls,  2  Hams, 
4  Tongues,  a  Turkey  Pie,  &  I  forget  how  much 
wine,  were  sent  off  before  us  on  a  Mule — observe  it 
was  a  scheme  of  3  days,  so  we  did  not  find  so  much 
too  much  as  you  might  imagine."1 

In  the  Saloon  at  Holkham  are  two  fine  antique 
mosaic  tables  which  came  from  Hadrian's  villa  at 
Tivoli,  and  which  must  often  have  served  to  remind 
Coke  of  his  visit  there.  Shortly  after  that  expedition, 
he  appears  to  have  left  Italy  on  his  return  by  land  to 
England.  Kerrich,  who  in  a  letter  the  following  July 
remarks  that  he,  personally,  does  not  expect  to  return 
tl  soon  enough  for  ye  election,"  adds — u  Mr.  Coke  told 
me  ye  last  time  I  saw  him,  his  letters  from  England 
seem'd  to  say  there  was  not  any  prospect  of  an  Oppo- 
sition." Since,  therefore,  little  necessity  was  antici- 
pated for  previous  canvassing,  and  since — so  long  as 
there  was  no  immediate  prospect  of  a  dissolution — it 
was  not  necessary  for  Coke  to  hasten  homewards,  he 
decided  to  visit  Vienna  en  route,  and  there  appears  to 
have  made  a  long  stay. 

1  Letter  from  Thomas  Kerrich  to  his  aunt  Elizabeth  Postlethwayt  at 
Burnham  ;  dated  Rome,  April  16th,  1774. 


126  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i774 

Immediately  upon  his  arrival  he  was  presented  to 
the  famous  Prime  Minister,  Prince  Reitberg  Kaunitz,1 
who  was  reputed  to  be  the  wisest  statesman  in  Europe, 
and  who  was  the  leader  of  all  Viennese  society,  being 
by  many  considered  a  more  important  person  than  the 
Emperor  himself.  The  Prince,  having  already  been 
acquainted  for  many  years  with  Lady  Mary  Coke,  was 
exceedingly  gracious  to  her  young  cousin,  and  made 
a  point  of  introducing  him  to  the  principal  officers  of 
State  and  to  all  the  elite  of  Viennese  society.  The 
morning  after  this  general  introduction,  a  very  gorgeous 
footman  waited  upon  young  Coke  with  the  mystic 
greeting — "  Les  gens  de  Prince  Kaunitz  souhaitent 
Monsieur  un  heureux  arrive  a  Vienne  ! 99  Coke  was  in- 
formed that  this  amiable  welcome  was  delivered  in 
expectation  of  a  handsome  remuneration  of  ducats, 
and,  upon  receiving  this,  the  resplendent  footman 
departed  in  a  state  of  satisfaction, — to  be  followed  in 
rapid  succession  by  the  footmen  of  all  the  Ministers 
and  all  the  nobles  to  whom  Coke  had  been  introduced, 
and  who,  in  return  for  a  repetition  of  the  same  formula, 
awaited  a  repetition  of  the  same  substantial  acknow- 
ledgment of  their  civility.  In  this  manner  £20  to 
£30  was  soon  expended,  so  that  Coke  discovered  that 
acquaintance  with  the  elite  of  Vienna  was  an  exceed- 
ingly expensive  privilege  ;  which  discovery  was  aug- 
mented when  he  began  to  go  out  in  society  and  found 
that,  at  many  of  the  great  houses,  shops  were  opened 
where  visitors  were  expected  to  purchase  articles  in 

1  Prince  von  Kaunitz  (171 1-94).  In  1753  he  was  appointed  Chancellor, 
and  for  almost  forty  years  had  the  principal  direction  of  Austrian 
politics. 


1774]  THE  GRAND  TOUR  CONTINUED  127 
return  for  the  hospitality  which  had  been  shown  them, 
or  they  were  invited  to  put  heavy  sums  in  lottery 
tickets — an  invitation  which  it  was  impossible  to  refuse. 

Prince  Kaunitz,  however,  showed  him  great  atten- 
tion, and  it  soon  became  understood  that  wherever  the 
Prince  was  invited,  there  also  went  Mr.  Coke.  As  the 
intimacy  grew,  Coke  became  a  constant  guest  of  the 
Prince,  not  only  at  the  public  entertainments  which 
the  Minister  gave  on  a  scale  of  great  magnificence, 
but  in  his  more  private  life,  and  also  at  his  famous 
country  seat  at  Austerlitz  in  Moravia,  which  was  the 
scene  of  the  battle  of  the  three  Emperors  in  1805. 
Coke  thus  mixed  familiarly  with  all  the  people  of  note, 
from  Maria  Theresa  downwards,  and  often  saw  the 
Emperor,  who  had  a  covered  way  built  from  the  ram- 
parts, so  that  he  could  reach  the  town  house  of  Kaunitz 
unobserved.  Daily,  both  in  town  and  in  country,  the 
Prince  had  covers  laid  for  about  twenty  guests  whom 
he  had  invited  two  days  in  advance,  by  means  of  his 
courier.  Dinner  took  place  at  six  o'clock,  when,  al- 
though the  food  provided  was  sumptuous,  the  wine 
was  surprisingly  scanty  in  quantity,  only  two  bottles 
being  allowed  for  about  twenty  guests,  so  that  one  day 
when  an  Englishman  imprudently  took  four  glasses 
of  wine,  he  was  looked  upon  as  having  been  guilty  of 
most  extraordinary  behaviour. 

A  lady  of  the  name  of  Carey,  a  widowed  niece  of 
the  Prince,  presided  over  his  household.  She  was 
very  agreeable  and  a  delightful  conversationalist.  The 
craze  for  collecting  beautiful  china  was  then  at  its 
height  in  Vienna,  and  the  Prince's  niece  was  an  en- 
thusiastic collector,  having  a  special  admiration  for 


128  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1774 
china  of  English  manufacture.  Coke,  on  discovering 
this,  went  to  great  pains  to  procure  a  peculiarly  beauti- 
ful service  from  England,  which  arrived  safely,  and 
with  which,  to  her  great  delight,  he  presented  her. 
No  doubt  he  must  often  have  been  regaled  by  the 
vivacious  Carey  with  anecdotes  of  his  cousin,  Lady 
Mary,  who  had  preceded  him,  but  whose  imaginary 
ill-favour  at  Court  did  not  affect  his  own  popularity. 
The  English  at  that  date  were  in  great  request  in 
Vienna,  and  Coke  appears  to  have  ingratiated  himself 
considerably  with  the  fashionable  young  beauties  of 
the  town.  Sir  Robert  Keith,  the  English  Minister 
there,  writing  the  following  year  (January  5th,  1775) 
to  Lady  Mary  Coke,  remarks  reminiscently  :  4 *  Your 
Ladyship's  relation,  Mr.  Coke,  made  considerable  havock 
amongst  the  young  Beauties  during  his  stay,  and  I 
mistake  him  much  if  he  does  not  support  his  Reputa- 
tion of  Conquest  in  England  !  " 

From  Vienna,  Coke  at  length  went  to  Paris,  where 
he  again  encountered  Lady  Mary,  homeward  bound, 
and  where  he  arrived  at  an  exciting  time.  On  May 
10th,  Louis  XV  had  died,  unregretted,  and  the  ill-fated 
Louis  XVI  and  Marie  Antoinette  had  ascended  the 
throne  amid  the  acclamations  of  an  adoring  people, 
and  amidst  auguries  perhaps  unparalleled  in  their 
presage  of  a  happy  reign  and  a  new  era  of  prosperity 
for  France.  In  the  bright  spring  days  all  Paris  was 
rejoicing  ;  the  one  thought  of  the  young  King  seemed 
to  be  how  to  dedicate  his  life  to  the  welfare  of  his 
people,  and  the  beautiful  young  Queen,  appearing  at 
the  opera,  driving  about  the  sunny  streets,  and  paying 
with  smiles  the  love  which  everywhere  greeted  her, 


1774]      THE  GRAND  TOUR  CONTINUED  129 

filled  the  populace  with  an  enthusiasm  bordering  on 
intoxication.  Even  Lady  Mary,  according  to  her 
nature,  was  generous  to  her  fancied  enemy.  "I  am 
persuaded  she  will  be  yet  more  adored  as  Queen  than 
she  was  as  Madame  la  Dauphine.  She  has  every 
quality  to  make  her  so,  and  will  put  all  those  in  use," 
she  says  magnanimously;  while  of  the  young  King  she 
has  only  one  fear — he  is  too  good  to  live  ;  she  dare  not 
hope  that  his  reign  will  be  prolonged  to  fulfil  the 
gracious  promise  of  these  early  days  ;  she  is  convinced 
that  he  will  fall  an  early  victim  to  that  scourge  of 
Europe,  small-pox,  and  so  blight  the  prospects  of 
France.  "The  people  are  extremely  fond  of  him,  and 
tho'  they  see  him  every  day,  the  crowds  that  always 
attend  is  prodigious  and  the  acliamations  [sic]  of  joy 
when  they  see  him  are  the  same."  But,  again  and 
again,  this  thought  recurs  :  "  He  seems  in  everything 
to  have  so  much  at  heart  the  reforming  all  kinds  of 
Abuses  and  to  give  such  flattering  hopes  of  being  a 
blessing  to  his  people,  that  I  fear  his  reign  will  not 
be  a  long  one."1 

Young  Coke,  however,  could  not  prolong  his  stay  in 
the  gay  city  where  all  seemed  sunshine  and  gladness. 
An  event  had  occurred  which  may  have  caused  his  own 
heart  to  beat  with  an  agreeable  suggestion,  but  which, 
in  any  case,  set  a  limit  to  his  wanderings.  His  younger 
sister,  Elizabeth,  had  become  engaged  to  his  friend, 
James  Dutton,  and  the  wedding  was  fixed  to  take  place 
at  Longford  on  July  7th. 

1  Journal  of  Lady  Mary  Coke,  edited  by  the  Honourable  James  Home, 
privately  printed. 


I— K 


[1774 


CHAPTER  VII 

EARLY  MANHOOD 
1774-1776 

&tat  20-22 

JAMES  BUTTON,  who  was  afterwards  created 
Baron  Sherborne,  was  the  eldest  son  of  Mr. 
Lennox  Dutton — formerly  Naper  Dutton,  of 
Sherborne,  Gloucestershire ;  who,  it  is  said, 
succeeded  to  the  Sherborne  property  under  the  follow- 
ing circumstances. 

His  uncle,  Sir  John  Dutton,  was  childless,  and  the 
choice  of  an  heir  lay  between  Sir  John's  two  nephews, 
the  sons  of  his  two  sisters,  who  were  respectively  Mrs. 
Naper,  of  Loughcrew,  in  Ireland,  and  Lady  Reade,  of 
Shipton  Court.  Young  Naper  and  young  Reade  were 
constantly  with  their  uncle,  and  the  old  man  was  still 
undecided  to  which  of  them  to  bequeath  his  property, 
when  one  day  he  called  them  to  his  bedside,  and  asked 
them  to  tell  him  what  books  they  were  then  studying 
at  school.  The  Naper  boy  at  once  answered  that  he  was 
studying  the  Latin  Grammar,  but  the  Reade  boy 
casually  replied  that  he  M  didn't  know,  except  that 
it  was  a  Blue  Book" — blue  being  the  Tory  colour  and 
his  uncle  a  rabid  Whig.  From  that  date  Sir  John 
announced  that  he  intended  to  leave  his  property  to 
the  boy  who  knew  what  he  was  studying,  and  this  he 

130 


1774]  EARLY  MANHOOD  131 

accordingly  did.  Mrs.  Naper's  son  succeeded  to  the 
Dutton  property  and  took  the  name  of  Dutton.  He 
had  three  sons — James,  who  married  Miss  Coke, 
William  and  Ralph  ;  and  four  daughters. 

A  friendship  of  many  years'  standing  had  existed 
between  the  Cokes  and  the  Duttons,  who  had  con- 
stantly visited  each  other.  Before  his  departure  abroad 
young  Coke  had  been  struck  by  the  great  beauty  of 
Jane,  the  youngest  daughter  of  Mr.  Dutton.  Whether 
this  boy  and  girl  attraction  had  amounted  to  a  definite 
romance  is  not  known,  but  it  was  said  that  already  at 
that  date  the  Dutton  family  had  the  match  in  view. 
Not  so  Mr.  Wenman  Coke.  That  his  own  pretty 
daughter  should  marry  the  heir  to  Sherborne  he  had 
no  objection  ;  but  that  Mr.  Dutton's  pretty  daughter 
should  marry  the  heir  to  Holkham  was  a  different 
matter.  He  cherished  more  ambitious  views  for  his 
son,  and  it  is  probable  he  was  far  from  desirous  that 
the  latter  should  return  in  time  for  the  wedding,  when 
it  was  unavoidable  inviting  the  sisters  of  the  bride- 
groom to  be  his  guests  at  Longford. 

Young  Coke,  however,  timed  his  return  to  reach  Long- 
ford for  the  event;  moreover,  having  left  his  home  an 
immature  youth,  he  reappeared  there  manly  in  appear- 
ance, polished  in  manners  and  transformed  from  the 
schoolboy  who  had  started  off  on  his  travels  nearly 
three  years  before.  The  change  was  calculated  to  im- 
press Miss  Dutton,  and  he,  on  his  part,  was  destined  to 
discover  that  his  lengthy  acquaintance  with  foreign 
beauties  had  not  diminished  his  admiration  for  the 
object  of  his  boyish  romance. 

Jane  Dutton,  at  this  time  twenty  years  of  age,  was 


132  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1774 
in  the  height  of  her  beauty.  Fair  and  stately,  with  a 
graceful  figure,  her  exquisitely  modelled  head  was  set 
on  a  full,  white  throat,  her  features  were  delicate,  her 
eyes  fine,  and  her  hair,  when  not  hidden  by  snowy 
powder,  was  "yellow  as  ripe  corn." 

At  Sherborne  there  is  a  picture  by  Zoffany  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Naper  Dutton  watching  their  two  children, 
James  and  Jane,  who  are  seated  at  a  table  playing 
cards.  In  a  duplicate  of  this  picture  at  Minterne1  they 
are  represented  reading  their  Bibles ;  but  either  picture  is 
very  life-like,  and  the  effect  conveyed  is  that  of  looking 
into  a  room  where  living  people  are  actually  sitting. 

In  the  Sherborne  picture,  James  Dutton,  in  a  suit 
of  grey  satin,  is  leaning  back  to  show  his  cards  to  his 
mother,  who,  dressed  in  black,  with  fine  lace  upon  her 
head,  is  seated  beside  the  fire,  resting  a  book  upon  her 
lap.  Mr.  Dutton,  the  father,  is  seated  near  his  daughter 
Jane,  who,  evidently  as  the  beauty  of  the  family,  occu- 
pies the  most  prominent  position  in  the  picture.  Over 
an  underskirt  of  white  satin  she  is  wearing  a  delicately 
tinted  peach-blossom  brocade.  Black  lace  at  her  neck 
enhances  the  whiteness  of  her  skin ;  her  hair  is 
elaborately  dressed  and  studded  with  pearls ;  her  finely 
cut  features  and  the  beautiful  contour  of  her  head  are 
strikingly  portrayed,  and  show,  clear  as  a  cameo, 
against  the  blue  walls  of  the  room  beyond. 

Talented  as  she  was  handsome,  witty  in  speech  and 
winning  in  manner,  with  a  dignity  caught  from  the 
great  world  to  which  she  had  been  introduced,  mellow- 
ing the  freshness  of  the  country  life  to  which  she  had 
been  bred,  Jane  Dutton  took  young  Coke's  heart  by 

1  The  seat  of  Lord  Digby. 


1774]  EARLY  MANHOOD  133 

storm.  They  met  in  an  atmosphere  of  romance,  with 
the  air  full  of  wedding-bells  and  summer  sunshine, 
while  between  them  lay  the  link  of  a  past  attraction  ; 
and  it  is  small  wonder  that  those  golden  days  served 
to  bring  about  the  result  which  Wenman  Coke  had 
feared — the  romance  was  cemented  for  all  time. 

"  I  hear  that  the  young  Mr.  Coke  has  returned  from 
abroad  in  love  with  the  Pretender's  Queen,"  wrote  the 
arch-gossip  Horace  Walpole  the  following  month  j1 
but,  though  the  bright  eyes  of  Louise  of  Stolberg  may 
have  flattered  young  Coke's  vanity,  it  was  not  the 
remembrance  of  that  Royal  Ariadne  which  enchained 
his  fancy.  Yet  even  his  present  more  stable  romance 
seemed  threatened  with  extinction.  Mr.  Wenman  Coke 
looked  coldly  upon  his  son's  infatuation.  The  cherished 
days  passed  all  too  quickly  ;  the  bridegroom  and  his 
bride  drove  away ;  the  Dutton  family  returned  to 
Gloucestershire,  and  the  old  monotony  settled  down 
upon  quiet  Longford. 

After  his  long  experience  of  excitement  and  change 
abroad,  young  Coke  found  this  isolated  country  exist- 
ence somewhat  depressing.  To  relieve  the  dullness, 
and  perhaps  to  prevent  brooding  over  his  father's 
opposition  to  his  wishes,  he  asked  permission  to  attend 
Newmarket  races.  His  father  advised  him  to  keep 
away  ;  but,  finally,  seeing  that  his  son  was  bent  upon 
going,  and  perhaps  hoping  that  the  experience  might 
prove  salutary,  Wenman  Coke  yielded,  and  having 
bought  his  son  a  handsome  horse  for  the  price  of  fifty 
guineas,  made  him  a  further  present  of  fifty  guineas  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  the  journey. 

1  Letter  to  H.  S.  Conway,  August  18th,  1774. 


134  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i774 
Thus  equipped,  young  Coke  set  out.  Arrived  at 
Newmarket,  he  met  several  of  his  friends,  and  was 
introduced  to  a  Mr.  Willoughby  Dixie,  of  Bosworth, 
a  professed  gambler  and  a  very  eccentric  character ; 
indeed,  so  peculiar  was  Mr.  Dixie,  and  so  unaccount- 
able in  his  manners,  that  it  was  suspected  he  was  not 
quite  right  in  his  head.  He  was,  however,  very  good 
company,  and  that  same  evening  he  induced  young 
Coke  to  go  with  him  to  one  of  those  gaming-houses, 
appropriately  designated  Gambling  Hells.  Coke  after- 
wards related  how,  when  he  entered  the  room,  the 
players  were  all  seated  round  the  hazard  table,  and  a 
heavy  sum  in  gold,  amounting  to  several  hundreds, 
was  staked  upon  the  chance.  Amongst  the  party  was 
a  man  named  Hall,  a  notoriously  bad  character,  who 
was  placing  within  the  circle  a  sum  perhaps  equal  to 
the  entire  stakes  of  all  the  players.  As  Dixie  advanced 
to  the  table,  he  yelled  out : 

4 4 At  you  all 
And  Highwayman  Hall !  " 

meaning  that  he  would  stake  still  higher  than  any  sum 
yet  deposited  ;  and  this  he  did,  neither  knowing  nor 
caring  what  was  the  amount  risked,  since  by  a  cursory 
glance  at  the  table  it  was  impossible  to  compute  the 
sum  lying  there. 

Long  before  the  end  of  the  evening  young  Coke's 
fifty  guineas  had  transferred  their  ownership.  His  con- 
sternation was  great ;  he  found  himself  without  the 
means  of  paying  his  bill  at  the  inn,  or  of  travelling 
home  again.  The  only  possible  method  of  extricating 
himself  from  the  difficulty  appeared  to  be  to  sell  his 


1774]  EARLY  MANHOOD  135 

horse  ;  he  therefore  offered  it  to  one  of  his  friends,  who 
immediately  agreed  to  give  him  its  original  cost.  With 
the  fifty  guineas  thus  obtained  he  returned  the  second 
evening  to  the  gambling  table,  hoping  to  retrieve  his 
luck  ;  but  he  played  until  his  purse  was  again  emptied 
and  he  was  in  a  worse  plight  than  before.  Absolutely 
bankrupt,  he  had  no  course  but  to  borrow  the  sum  he 
wanted,  and  to  leave  Newmarket  the  next  evening  in  a 
state  of  great  depression. 

It  was  a  humiliating  position  for  a  would-be  man  of 
the  world  and  prospective  bridegroom.  When  he 
arrived  home,  his  father  inquired  how  his  steed  had 
carried  him.  "Very  well — there,"  replied  the  young 
man  meekly.  "There?  "  echoed  his  father.  "Did  he  not 
bring  you  back  equally  well?"  "  He  did  not  bring  me 
back  at  all ! "  replied  the  culprit,  and  proceeded  to 
make  a  clean  breast  of  his  adventures.  His  father's 
comment  on  the  recital  history  does  not  relate  ;  but 
Coke  concluded  his  confession  with  the  remark:  "I  will 
give  you  my  solemn  word  of  honour,  sir,  that  I  will 
never  go  to  Newmarket  races  again  ! " 

"  It  was  money  well  spent,"  he  used  to  say  in  after- 
life. "I  kept  my  word,  and  have  never  been  near  the 
races  from  that  day."1 

None  the  less,  the  humiliation  of  his  only  appearance 
on  the  turf  always  rankled,  and  to  the  end  of  his  life, 
whenever  he  had  occasion  to  cross  over  Newmarket 
Heath,  he  made  a  point  of  drawing  down  the  blinds  of 
his  chariot;  and  used  to  advise  his  son:  "Tom,  re- 
member when  you  pass  over  Newmarket,  don't  omit  to 
draw  down  the  blinds  ;  never  look  at  the  place!  " 

1  Norwich  Mercury,  July  9th,  1842. 


136  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i774 

He  does  not  appear,  however,  to  have  borne  any  ill- 
will  towards  Mr.  Dixie,  with  whom  he  had  one  or  two 
subsequent  adventures  which,  although  they  belong  to 
a  later  date,  may  as  well  be  related  here  before  quitting 
the  subject  of  this  eccentric  being. 

Some  years  later,  Coke  and  James  Dutton  went  to 
Dishly  to  purchase  some  rams  from  the  celebrated 
breeder,  Mr.  Bakewell,  who  lived  in  Mr.  Dixie's  neigh- 
bourhood. Mr.  Dixie,  hearing  of  their  intention,  pro- 
posed to  them  to  pass  the  rest  of  the  day  with  him 
"and  take  a  bed  at  Bosworth."  Accordingly,  their 
business  ended,  they  repaired  thither.  When  they 
arrived,  Dixie  was  out  shooting  in  the  company  of  his 
servant,  "Mr.  John,"  a  species  of  Caleb,  who  served 
him  with  wonderful  versatility  in  any  capacity  whatso- 
ever ;  but  on  his  return,  he  gave  his  guests  the  heartiest 
welcome  and  they  sat  down  to  such  a  dinner  as  "  Mr. 
John  "  could  scrape  together  at  short  notice — the  most 
substantial  part  of  it  being  a  dish  of  bacon  and  eggs, 
and  a  brace  of  partridges  which  the  said  John  had 
just  had  the  good  fortune  to  assist  his  master  in  killing. 

The  evening  passed  very  merrily,  the  young  men 
being  much  amused  at  their  host  and  his  hospitality. 
At  length  the  hour  for  rest  arrived  ;  Mr.  Dixie  rose, 
and,  snatching  up  a  candle  in  each  hand,  announced 
with  much  ceremony  and  palaver  that  he  would  show 
Mr.  Coke  to  his  room.  Coke  would  fain  have  waived 
the  ceremony,  but  Dixie  was  not  to  be  deterred  ;  he 
led  the  way  solemnly  upstairs,  and  paced  along  a 
passage  till  he  reached  a  large,  lofty  and  gloomy  apart- 
ment in  which  there  was  a  huge  state  bed,  centuries 
old,  covered  with  gigantic  plumes  and  ornaments  of  a 


1774]  EARLY  MANHOOD  137 

remote  date  and  fashion.  "  There  !  "  he  said  dramati- 
cally, placing  the  two  lights  upon  the  floor,  "  There  is 
your  bed.  King  Richard  III  slept  in  it  the  night 
before  the  battle  of  Bosworth  Field,  and  it  has  never 
been  lain  in  since  !  " 1  So  saying,  he  vanished  ;  leaving 
his  unfortunate  guest  not  a  little  dismayed  at  becoming 
the  successor  to  Royalty  after  so  long  and  depressing 
an  interval. 

Coke,  however,  was  very  tired,  and  at  last,  reluctantly, 
made  up  his  mind  to  lie  down  in  his  clothes  on  the  floor, 
where  he  slept  soundly  until  the  morning.  After 
breakfast  Dixie  showed  his  guests  the  site  of  the  battle, 
and  on  arriving  at  one  part  of  the  field  announced 
with  profound  conviction  that  it  was  the  identical  spot 
where  King  Richard  had  stood  when  he  exclaimed — 

44  A  horse— a  horse  !    My  kingdom  for  a  horse  !  " 

Which  exclamation  Dixie  shouted  in  such  a  stentorian 
voice,  and  accompanied  by  such  dramatic  action,  that 
they  thought  it  well  not  to  dispute  the  information. 

Some  years  afterwards,  when  Coke  was  staying  at 
Godwick  Hall,  his  house  at  Tittleshall,  where  he 
occasionally  went  during  the  hunting  season,  and  which 
had  been  the  original  seat  of  Sir  Edward  Coke,  Mr. 
Dixie  unexpectedly  made  his  appearance.  Coke  re- 
ceived him  cordially,  but  told  him  that,  not  having  had 
any  previous  information  of  his  visit,  the  house  was 
unfortunately  full,  and  the  best  he  could  do  for  him 
was  to  provide  a  bed  at  the  farm-house  in  the  neigh- 

1  See  Gardiner's  History  of  Richard  III,  revised  ed.,  1898,  p.  232, 
note  2  ;  also  Hutton's  Battle  of  Bosworth  Field  (1813),  p.  48,  with  plate 
of  the  bedstead. 


138  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i774 
bourhood.  This  was  accordingly  arranged.  Amongst 
the  guests  at  Godwick  Hall,  however,  was  a  Mr. 
Valentine  Knightly,  who  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Mr. 
Dixie's,  and  whom  the  latter  used  to  call  familiarly 
V.  K.  Hearing  what  had  happened,  Mr.  Knightly 
begged  to  be  allowed  to  give  up  his  room  to  Mr. 
Dixie,  and  to  sleep  at  the  farm  in  the  place  of  the 
latter. 

This  was  satisfactorily  settled  ;  but  by  some  mis- 
chance the  fresh  arrangement  was  not  made  known  to 
Mr.  Dixie,  and  when  night  came  he  repaired  to  the 
farm.  Mr.  Knightly  had  gone  to  bed  and  was  fast 
asleep  when  he  was  roused  by  Mr.  Dixie's  salutation  of 
—"What!  V.  K.  in  my  bed!"  In  vain  did  Mr. 
Knightly  protest,  and  explain  the  circumstances.  Mr. 
Dixie  stripped  off  the  clothes,  took  V.  K.  by  the  heels, 
dragged  him  on  to  the  floor,  and  running  out  of  the 
room,  returned  to  the  Hall. 

Such  an  insult  was  not  to  be  borne.  Early  the  next 
morning  Mr.  Knightly  sought  out  Mr.  Coke,  related 
what  had  passed,  and  added  that  he  was  about  to 
challenge  Mr.  Dixie.  Coke  entreated  him  at  least  to 
postpone  this  intention  until  he  saw  him  again,  assuring 
him  that  not  an  hour  should  pass  before  this  was  the 
case.  He  thereupon  left  the  irate  Mr.  Knightly  and 
hurried  to  Mr.  Dixie,  with  whom  he  remonstrated 
warmly  on  his  conduct,  confirming  the  statement 
that  Mr.  Knightly  had  relinquished  his  room  in 
the  house  solely  to  oblige  Mr.  Dixie.  He  added 
that  Mr.  Dixie  must  apologise  in  the  fullest  and  most 
satisfactory  manner  to  Mr.  Knightly,  or  else  he,  Mr. 
Coke,  should  feel  it  his  duty  personally  to  demand 


1774]  EARLY  MANHOOD  139 

satisfaction  for  the  insult  offered  to  himself,  in  the 
person  of  his  friend  and  guest. 

"  Apologise  to  V.K.!"  said  Mr.  Dixie  placidly; 
"  oh,  I'll  apologise  with  all  my  heart!"  But  Coke, 
not  feeling  easy  respecting  the  form  which  the  pro- 
posed apology  would  take,  felt  it  necessary  to  impress 
on  the  culprit  very  solemnly,  that  unless  the  amende 
was  made  seriously  and  in  terms  the  most  honourable 
to  Mr.  Knightly,  he  should  consider  it  in  the  light 
of  a  fresh  and  personal  affront,  and  should  assuredly 
call  Mr.  Dixie  out.  Dixie,  however,  proved  himself 
in  earnest ;  he  went  immediately  with  Mr.  Coke,  and 
made  his  peace  in  a  way  that  healed  all  differences, 
and  thus,  fortunately,  the  matter  ended. 

The  last  which  we  hear  of  Mr.  Dixie  is  the  entry  in 
the  Holkham  Game  Book,  dated  December  16th, 
1797  :— 

"  Mr.  Dixie  betts  Mr.  Coke  20  guineas  that  the 
Partridge  shooting  by  Act  of  Parliament  does  not 
commence  on  the  1st  of  September  1799.  If  the  1st 
Sept.  is  on  a  Sunday,  then  the  second  is  under- 
stood." 

Shortly  after  the  episode  at  Newmarket,  the  dis- 
solution of  Parliament,  so  long  anticipated,  took  place 
in  September,  1774.  The  country  was  plunged  into 
the  excitement  of  a  General  Election,  and  Mr.  Wenman 
Coke  having  been  again  invited  to  stand  for  Norfolk, 
young  Coke  found  himself  called  upon  to  stand  for 
Derby. 

He  consented  most  unwillingly.  In  Norfolk  his 
father  and  Sir  Edward  Astley  were  returned  without 


140  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1774 
opposition  as  Knights  of  the  Shire,1  and  the  result  of  a 
brisk  canvass  in  Derbyshire  had  already  shown  that  he 
himself  must  inevitably  be  returned  at  the  head  of 
the  poll,  when  a  difficulty  arose.  An  opponent,  who, 
curiously  enough,  although  no  relation,  bore  the  same 
surname  as  himself,  Mr.  D.  Parker  Coke,2  called  upon 
him,  and  inquired  whether  he  had  yet  attained  his 
majority.  Young  Coke  answered  frankly  that  he  was 
still  within  eight  months  of  doing  so.  "Then," 
replied  Mr.  Parker  Coke,  "I  shall  oppose  you  ;  and  if 
you  are  elected,  you  must  understand  that  your  elec- 
tion will  be  declared  void."  Coke,  thus  finding  that  it 
was  useless  to  stand,  retired  from  the  contest,  nothing 
loath  ;  but  being  anxious  that  his  party  should  not 
suffer,  he  persuaded  Mr.  Gisborne,  much  against  the 
latter's  will,  to  come  forward.  A  severe  contest  ensued, 
in  which  young  Coke  took  an  active  part;  and  during 
some  serious  riots  he  was  not  only  badly  bruised,  but 
knocked  on  the  head  and  stunned.  Parker  Coke,  how- 
ever, to  his  great  delight,  was  ousted  ;  Mr.  Gisborne 
carried  his  election  by  a  small  majority  and  remained  in 
Parliament  for  many  years  afterwards. 

It  may  be  mentioned  here  that  Coke  only  once 
represented  Derby  in  Parliament,  and  that  only  for  a 
space  of  about  three  weeks,  as  we  shall  see,  in  the 
year  1807. 

When  Mr.  Wenman  Coke  went  to  town  for  the 

1  County  members  were  called  Knights  of  the  Shire,  because  in 
theory  it  was  originally  necessary  that  they  should  be  Knights,  the 
presumption  being  that  all  representatives  of  the  Shire  would  be  minor 
tenants  in  chief  who  were  legally  bound  (by  distraint)  to  take  their 
knighthood.    The  phrase  survived  such  requirements  and  conditions. 

2  Daniel  Parker  Coke,  afterwards  M.P.  for  Nottingham. 


1774]  EARLY  MANHOOD  141 

reassembling  of  Parliament,  young  Coke  accompanied 
his  father,  and  attended  Court.  James  Dutton  and  his 
bride  were  also  in  London  at  that  date,  and  it  is  not 
surprising  that,  with  the  dual  attraction  of  the  latter 
being  at  once  his  sister's  husband  and  the  brother  of 
the  girl  he  loved,  Coke  should  have  developed  a  great 
friendship  for  his  brother-in-law,  even  though  James 
Dutton  was  his  senior  by  ten  years.  Neither  is  it  sur- 
prising that  Wenman  Coke,  anxious  to  discourage  the 
intimacy  between  his  son  and  the  lady  of  his  choice, 
did  not  look  favourably  upon  this  growing  friendship 
with  her  brother.  One  incident,  which  he  must  have 
hoped  would  have  the  effect  of  cooling  this  intimacy, 
occurred  soon  after  their  arrival  in  town. 

James  Dutton  suggested  to  young  Coke  that,  as  a 
useful  means  of  extending  his  acquaintance  and  of 
passing  some  pleasant  evenings,  he  should  become  a 
member  of  some  respectable  club,  and  named  that  of 
the  Cocoa  Tree1  as  likely  to  answer  his  purpose. 
Young  Coke  fell  in  readily  with  the  suggestion.  He 
was  nominated  and  elected,  whereupon  it  was  an- 
nounced that  a  dinner  would  be  given  the  following 
week  in  his  honour,  as  a  new  member,  at  which  Sir 
Robert  Burdett  was  to  be  chairman. 

Mr.  Wenman  Coke,  hearing  of  the  circumstance, 
told  his  son  that  he  wished  to  be  present  at  this  dinner. 
Young  Coke  replied  that  he  feared  it  was  against  the 
rules  that  any  one  who  was  not  a  member  of  the  club 
should  attend  this  function  ;  but  the  old  gentleman  per- 
sisted, saying  that  the  president  was  well  known  to 
him,  and  that,  in  any  case,  Mr.  Dutton  could  easily 

1  In  Mr.  Keppel's  notebook  it  is  called  also  the  "  Cow  and  Tree." 


142  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i774 


arrange  the  matter.  With  some  difficulty  permission 
was  obtained  for  him  to  be  present,  and  he  was  placed 
next  the  chair. 

The  dinner  passed  off  very  pleasantly,  but  at  its 
conclusion,  when  the  cloth  was  removed,  Mr.  Wenman 
Coke  rose  and  addressed  the  chairman,  Sir  Robert 
Burdett.  He  begged  that  his  presence  might  be  no 
restraint,  and  as  their  first  toast  was  "THE  PRINCE" 
(the  Pretender)  he  would  drink  it  in  the  customary 
manner.  He  then  unbuttoned  the  knee  of  his  breeches, 
knelt  down  upon  his  bare  knee,  and,  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  his  son,  drank  the  toast  in  this  posture,  and 
then  quitted  the  room  in  silence.1  Young  Coke  was 
dumbfounded  at  the  revelation  which  his  father  had 
chosen  to  convey  in  such  a  curious  manner,  and  at 
what  he  now  recognised  to  be  the  dangerous  conse- 
quences of  his  own  introduction  into  a  society  of  whose 
political  significance  he  had  been  utterly  ignorant.2 
Alas  !  for  the  remembrance  of  the  Pretender's  Queen 
and  the  white  cockade,  he  never  again  entered  the 
Cocoa  Tree. 

1  In  public,  as  has  often  been  recorded,  the  Jacobites  were  forced  to 
content  themselves  with  responding  to  the  toast  of  "the  King!"  by 
passing  their  wine-glasses  over  their  finger-bowls  or  beyond  the  water- 
jugs  (for  which  cause  it  eventually  became  etiquette  whenever  Royalty 
was  present,  for  all  who  were  not  royal  to  dispense  with  the  use  of  finger- 
bowls).  In  private,  however,  and  whenever  circumstances  permitted 
such  a  frank  display  of  loyalty,  the  health  of  the  Pretender  was  always 
drunk  by  his  followers  kneeling  in  the  manner  described  ;  and  it  must 
have  been  an  impressive  sight  when  a  large  assembly  drank  it  thus 
upon  their  knees  in  solemn  and  reverential  silence. 

3  This  noted  club  was  originally  the  Tory  chocolate-house  of  Queen 
Anne's  reign.  It  was  converted  into  a  club,  probably  before  1746,  when 
the  house  was  the  head-quarters  of  the  Jacobite  party  in  Parliament. 
In  De  Foe's  Journey  Through  England,  p.  168,  he  remarks:  "A  Whig 
will  no  more  go  to  the  Cocoa  Tree  than  a  Tory  will  be  seen  at  the 
Coffee  House  at  St.  James." 


1774]  EARLY  MANHOOD  143 

But  a  stronger  cause,  even,  than  a  discovery  of  the 
abhorred  Jacobite  tendencies  in  his  brother-in-law 
would  have  been  necessary  to  sever  the  friendship  of 
the  two  young  men.  If  a  divergence  of  opinion  did 
exist  politically  between  them,  it  must  have  been  more 
than  counteracted  by  the  many  tastes  which  they 
shared  in  common,  and,  more  particularly,  that  of 
hunting,  of  which  they  were  both  passionately  fond. 
It  was  probably  the  winter  after  his  return  to  England 
that  Coke  took  Beadwell  Hall,  Oxon,  in  conjunction 
with  James  Dutton,  and  there  started  a  pack  of  his  own 
hounds  and  kept  his  kennels.  His  craze  for  all  out- 
door sports  had  survived  his  boyhood  ;  keenly  alive  to 
every  delight,  he  lived  every  moment  of  his  life  with 
a  heartwhole  enjoyment  which  his  splendid  health 
alone  made  possible  ;  but  while  he  appreciated  society 
and  took  a  harmless  pleasure  in  the  popularity  which 
his  prospects  and  his  good  looks  universally  ensured 
him,  he  was  ready  to  renounce  every  other  pleasure  for 
a  day  in  the  covert  or  a  run  with  his  hounds.  He  was 
a  fine  and  a  fearless  rider,  and  soon  became  as  noted 
for  his  seat  on  horseback  as  he  was  for  being  one  of 
the  best  shots  in  England. 

While  the  winter  months  passed,  he  still  prolonged 
his  sojourn  with  James  Dutton.  One  cause  for  this 
was  his  growing  estrangement  from  his  father.  The 
subject  of  his  projected  marriage  had  become  a  con- 
stant source  of  friction  between  them.  Mr.  Wenman 
Coke  remained  obstinately  opposed  to  it ;  his  son 
as  obstinately  determined  upon  it.  Mr.  Wenman 
Coke  admitted  Miss  Dutton's  attractions — that  she  was 
handsome,  accomplished  and  amiable  ;   but  he  was 


144  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [m$ 
resolved  that  his  son  should  make  a  better  marriage 
from  a  worldly  point  of  view,  and  had  long  decided  in 
his  own  mind  upon  the  wife  whom  he  wished  him  to 
wed.  This  was  the  daughter  of  a  neighbouring 
baronet,1  the  heiress  to  an  exceedingly  large  property 
and  to  an  income  of  not  less  than  £40,000  a  year.  The 
lady's  father  was  equally  anxious  for  the  union,  and  it 
was  believed  that  the  lady  herself  would  have  no  objec- 
tion to  it.  Clever,  sensible  and  otherwise  attractive,  she 
was,  unfortunately,  slightly  deformed  ;  and,  fully  alive 
to  her  lack  of  physical  beauty,  she  had  refused  many 
good  offers,  being  determined  that  her  husband  should 
be  a  simple  country  gentleman  who  would  be  more 
likely  to  value  her  for  her  real  worth.2  Everything 
being  propitious,  therefore,  that  his  son  should  reject 
such  an  addition  to  his  wealth  and  his  estate,  seemed 
to  Mr.  Wenman  Coke  to  be  flying  in  the  face  of 
Providence. 

But  the  suggestion  of  a  deformed  wife  in  the  place 
of  the  beautiful  Jane  Dutton,  very  naturally,  did  not 
appeal  to  young  Coke,  and  he  flatly  refused  to  listen 
to  his  father's  favourite  project.  Wenman  Coke  as 
firmly  refused  his  consent  to  the  marriage  with  Miss 
Dutton,  and,  in  consequence,  a  complete  severance 
took  place  between  father  and  son,  which  threatened 
to  be  permanent.  Events,  however,  conspired  to  bring 
about  the  fulfilment  of  young  Coke's  wishes. 

The  year  1775  was  a  momentous  one  in  his  life.  On 
February  28th  his  great-aunt  Margaret,  Lady  Leicester, 
died  at  Holkham  ;  and,  her  determination  to  outlive 

1  In  Mr.  Bacon's  MS.  the  name  is  purposely  suppressed. 

2  She  eventually  married,  and  died  at  the  birth  of  her  first  child. 


1775]  EARLY  MANHOOD  145 

Mr.  Wenman  Coke  thus  frustrated,  the  latter  suc- 
ceeded to  the  property  of  Holkham.  On  April  13th 
young  Coke  was  appointed  Steward,  Coroner,  and 
Bailiff*  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster  in  Norfolk  :  and  on 
May  6th  he  attained  his  majority. 

This  last  fact  probably  brought  matters  to  a  head, 
and  his  engagement  with  Miss  Dutton  appears  to  have 
been  announced.  "  Mr.  Coke's  marriage  with  Miss 
Duton,"  [sic]  wrote  Lady  Mary  Coke  in  her  Journal, 
Friday,  June,  1775,  "is  said  to  be  all  agreed.  I  think 
he  might  have  done  better,  but  he  was  certainly  to 
judge  of  that  himself ;  'tis  thought  the  lady  and  her 
family  have  had  this  match  in  view  some  years,  even 
before  Mr.  Coke  went  abroad." 

Still  Mr.  Wenman  Coke  remained  obdurate  ;  and 
even  Lady  Mary,  while  admitting  her  cousin's  right 
to  choose  for  himself,  did  not  altogether  approve  of 
that  choice.    On  Friday,  June  30th,  she  remarks  : — 

"  Mr.  Coke  and  Miss  Duton  are  much  talked  of ; 
his  father  is  so  displeased  that  he  will  not  give  his 
consent  or  anything  else.  I  fear  the  lady  is  not  very 
modest,  for  she  took  hold  of  Mr.  Coke's  hand  at  Court, 
when  the  Queen  was  very  near,  which  was  taken  notice 
of  by  her  Majesty." 

Moreover,  announced  the  Journal,  Mrs.  Dutton 
had  told  Lady  Townshend  that  "  Jenny  and  Mr.  Coke" 
had  discussed  the  future  ordering  of  their  life  together 
in  a  manner  which  greatly  shocked  Lady  Mary.  "  So 
much  familiarity  before  marriage,"  concluded  Lady 
Mary  severely,  "  seems  to  me  as  if  the  Lady  has  very 
little  delicacy.  ..." 

But  little  recked  the  young  lovers  if  the  whole 


146  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i775 
world  were  against  their  romance,  save  only  in  this 
particular,  that  if  a  suitable  allowance  were  not  forth- 
coming from  Mr.  Wenman  Coke,  the  marriage  appeared 
impracticable.  At  length  friends  interposed  to  effect 
a  reconciliation,  arguing  that,  in  view  of  the  would-be- 
bridegroom's  future  wealth,  to  insist  that  he  must  needs 
marry  money  was  surely  unreasonable.  Sir  Harbord 
Harbord,  who  was  a  great  friend  of  young  Coke's,  had 
a  long  correspondence  with  the  irate  father,  and  pleaded 
his  friend's  cause  with  warmth  and  tact.  He  it  was 
principally  who  was  instrumental  in  healing  the  breach, 
though  Mr. — afterwards  Judge — Willes,  who  was  a 
friend  of  both  families,  likewise  took  part  in  the  dispute 
and  gave  great  assistance  in  bringing  matters  to  a 
happy  conclusion. 

At  length  Mr.  Wenman  Coke  made  a  virtue  of  neces- 
sity and  accepted  the  inevitable.  But  one  fact  remains 
unexplained — Did  his  capitulation  occur  prior  or  subse- 
quent to  the  marriage?  One  old  paper  makes  mention 
of  young  "Mr.  Coke's  wonderful  ride  to  Shireborne"  but 
of  this  no  details  have  survived.  Did  he  ride  off  like  a 
true  knight  of  romance  and  secure  his  bride  in  the 
teeth  of  opposition?  In  view  of  the  determined  charac- 
ters of  both  father  and  son  this  seems  highly  probable. 
All  we  know  is  that  the  wedding  took  place  on  Friday, 
October  5th,  1775,  at  Sherborne,  or,  as  it  was  then 
written,  Shireborne  ;  and  that  two  things  about  it  were 
unusual :  first,  that  owing  to  the  proximity  of  the  parish 
church  to  the  house,  the  ceremony  was  performed  there 
by  the  Rev.  B.  J.  Twining,  the  local  rector,  instead  of 
in  the  house  itself,  as  was  customary  at  that  date  ;  and 
secondly,  that  the  names  inscribed  as  witnesses  are 


1775]  EARLY  MANHOOD  147 

those  of  James  Dutton  and  T.  Master,1  by  which  it 
would  appear  that  none  of  Mr.  Coke's  own  family  were 
present. 

Under  the  circumstances,  the  wedding  was  presum- 
ably a  very  quiet  one  ;  but  seldom  can  a  more  striking 
couple  have  formed  the  centre  of  such  a  ceremony. 
Both,  as  we  have  seen,  were  remarkable  for  unusual 
good  looks  and  personal  charm — the  bridegroom  in 
this  particular  had  a  European  reputation — while  to  a 
perfect  face  and  figure  the  bride  united  fascination  of 
mind  and  manner.  Both  were  twenty-one  years  of 
age  j  both  were  deeply  in  love ;  and  for  both  on  that 
October  day  we  may  safely  conclude  that  the  world 
was  fair  with  a  promise  of  happiness  such  as  falls  to 
the  lot  of  few  mortals. 

Whatever  the  state  of  young  Coke's  finances  at  the 
time  of  his  wedding,  he  contrived  to  give  his  bride 
many  handsome  gifts  ;  amongst  others  on  her  wedding 
day  he  presented  her  with  a  very  beautiful  watch,  key 
and  seal  of  purple  enamel  encrusted  with  diamonds.2 
The  hands  and  face  of  the  watch  are  set  in  diamonds  ; 
on  the  centre  of  the  back  is  a  diamond  urn  which  still 
contains  the  fair  hair  of  that  bridegroom  of  over  one 
hundred  and  thirty  years  ago,  while  the  seal  bears  the 
words — 

Je  ne  change  qu'en  mourant. 

Winter  was  coming  on,  and  it  seems  probable  that 
with  the  approach  of  the  hunting  season  the  young 
couple  went  to  live  at  Godwick  Hall,  Tittleshall,  which 

1  T.  Master,  Esq.,  of  Cirencester,  married  Mary  Dutton,  sister  of 
Jane. 

'  Now  in  the  possession  of  the  writer. 


148  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1775 
has  already  been  referred  to.  Mrs.  Coke,  like  her 
husband,  was  a  fine  rider  and  loved  to  spend  long 
days  in  the  saddle.  Soon  Coke  brought  a  portion  of 
his  pack  to  Norfolk,  and  before  long  succeeded  Lord 
Townshend  as  Master  of  the  Hounds;1  but  he  hunted 
for  a  few  weeks  only  till  the  breed  of  foxes  was  in- 
creased. Mr.  Rolfe  of  Heacham  made  some  gorse 
covers  on  his  estate  in  that  parish,  and  set  the  first 
example  of  rearing  them. 

But  the  gaiety  of  those  light-hearted  days  came  to  an 
abrupt  termination.  Six  months  after  young  Coke's 
wedding,  early  in  April,  news  came  to  him  of  the 
serious  illness  of  his  father.  It  was  some  time  since 
Mr.  Wenman  Coke  had  given  up  the  house  in  Hanover 
Square  for  one  in  Grosvenor  Square,  and  it  was  while 
there  that,  on  April  ioth,  1776,  his  death  occurred. 
Although  he  lived  to  be  nearly  sixty  years  of  age,  he 
may  be  said  to  have  fallen  a  victim  to  his  sedentary 
habits.  His  frame  and  constitution,  which  were  natu- 
rally robust,  were  destroyed  by  continually  sitting  to 
read  in  a  bent  position.  This  produced  internal  trouble 
which  eventually  ended  in  his  decease.  At  the  date  of 
his  death  he  had  been  in  possession  of  Holkham  for 
eleven  months  only,  and  had  been  resident  there  for  a 
very  short  period,  owing  to  his  enforced  absence  in 
town  to  attend  to  his  Parliamentary  duties  ;  yet  during 
that  time  he  had  lowered  the  rents  which  Lady  Leicester 
had  raised,  and  had  thus  endeared  himself  to  the  ten- 
ants.   His  death  is  noted  in  the  Annual  Register  as 

1  It  is  said  that  he  succeeded  Lord  Townshend  at  eighteen  (see  Coke 
of  Holkham,  by  Walter  Rye,  reprinted  from  the  Journal  of  the  Royal 
Agricultural  Society,  Third  Series,  Vol.  VI,  Part  I,  1895);  Dut  ne  cannot 
have  been  in  Norfolk  at  that  age. 


1776]  EARLY  MANHOOD  149 

follows: — "Died,  Wenman  Coke  Esqre,  Member  for 
Norfolk  and  Surveyor  of  the  Woods  belonging  to  the 
Crown  in  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster."  His  will  was 
proved  by  his  father,  Philip  Roberts,  his  widow  Eliza- 
beth, and  his  son  Thomas  William. 

Young  Coke  thus  found  himself  called  to  the  more 
serious  business  of  life  ;  and,  with  the  possession  of  his 
estates,  he  discovered  that  the  representation  of  the 
county  was  also  considered  to  be  part  of  his  inherit- 
ance. Sir  Harbord  Harbord  and  Sir  Edward  Astley 
called  upon  him  immediately  in  London  ;  they  urged 
his  station  in  the  county,  and,  above  all,  the  claims 
which  the  friends  who  had  supported  his  father  had 
upon  him  ;  till  at  length,  unwillingly,  he  yielded. 

It  is  curious  to  note  that  the  Manifesto  which  he 
issued  to  the  public  is  dated  two  days  after  his  father's 
death. 

TO  THE  GENTLEMEN,  CLERGY  AND  FREEHOLDERS 
OF  THE  COUNTY  OF  NORFOLK. 

Grosvenor  Square,  April  12th,  1776. 

The  anxious  Ambition  which  I  feel  to  succeed  my  worthy 
father,  would  scarcely  have  induced  me  so  early,  under 
such  a  Calamity,  to  have  solicited  this  Distinction,  which 
it  was  his  Happiness  to  have  experienced,  had  it  not  been 
well  known  to  me  it  was  his  ardent  Desire  that  every 
Effort  might  be  early  exerted  for  the  Attainment  of  so 
desirable  an  Object.  You  flatteringly  held  out  your  Pro- 
tection to  him  before  he  was  called  to  the  Succession  of 
his  Ancestors,  which  now  devolves  to  me  ;  but  it  would 
lose  greatly  of  its  value,  if  by  the  Sense  of  a  General 
Meeting  I  should  be  deemed  unworthy  of  the  Honour  of 
representing  the  County  of  Norfolk.  The  Time  will  not 
admit  of  my  paying  that  Respect  which  is  undoubtedly  due 
to  every  Elector  ;  but,  let  me  assure  you  that  if  my  Wishes 


ijp  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776 


prove  successful,  it  shall  be  my  study  to  justify  your  Pre- 
ference, by  giving  the  most  unwearied  Attention  to  your 
particular  Interests,  and  to  the  Honor,  Liberty,  and 
essential  Well-being  of  my  country. 

I  am,  with  the  greatest  respect,  Gentlemen, 

Your  most  obedient  and  most  humble  Servant, 

Thomas  William  Coke. 

N.B. — The  day  of  Nomination  being  fixed  by  the  Sheriff 
for  Wednesday  next  the  24th,  I  beg  leave  to  intreat  the 
favour  of  my  friends'  appearance. 

On  Wednesday  24th,  accordingly,  a  meeting  was 
held  at  the  Shirehouse  to  consider  who  was  to  succeed 
Mr.  Wenman  Coke.  Young  Coke,  who  came  forward 
with  an  "  amiable  composure  and  engaging  address,"1 
created  a  very  favourable  impression  and  was  nomi- 
nated without  hesitation.  The  following  day  he  issued 
another  Manifesto :  — 

TO  THE  GENTLEMEN,  CLERGY,  AND  FREEHOLDERS 
OF  THE  COUNTY  OF  NORFOLK. 

I  beg  leave  to  return  you  my  most  sincere  thanks  for 
the  High  Honour  you  have  conferred  upon  me  by  the 
unanimity  with  which  I  have  been  nominated  a  Candidate 
to  supply  the  Vacancy  occasioned  by  the  Death  of  my  late 
Father ;  an  Honour  which  receives  an  additional  Value 
from  the  undoubted  Testimony  it  affords  of  your  approba- 
tion of  his  Conduct. 

Permit  me  to  request  the  further  favour  of  your  Attend- 
ance and  Support  upon  the  day  of  Election.  Be  assured, 
that  if  I  have  the  Happiness  of  being  returned  your  Repre- 
sentative, my  unwearied  Attention  shall  be  given,  not  only 
to  the  real  Interests  of  this  County,  but  likewise  to  the 
Honour,  Liberty,  and  Welfare  of  the  Nation. 

I  am,  with  the  greatest  respect,  Gentlemen, 

Your  most  obedient  and  humble  servant, 

Thomas  William  Coke. 


1  Norwich  Mercury,  Saturday,  April  27th,  1776. 


1776]  EARLY  MANHOOD  151 

At  eleven  o'clock  on  Wednesday,  May  8th,  he  entered 
Norwich  at  the  head  of  a  numerous  body  of  gentlemen, 
clergy  and  freeholders,  and  proceeded  to  the  Shire- 
house.  He  was  dressed,  as  was  the  custom  on  such  an 
occasion,  in  full  Court  dress,  bag-wig,  buckles  and 
sword,  and  the  people,  who  viewed  him  with  curiosity, 
commented  audibly  on  his  handsome  appearance.  At 
the  Shirehouse  many  speeches  took  place,  but  one 
alone  deserves  passing  mention,  because  of  the  strange 
train  of  events  which  are  said  to  have  been  its  indirect 
result.  We  are  told  that  "a  gentleman  high  in  office " 
delivered  the  following  appropriate  remarks  : — 

"  Gentlemen, — The  melancholy  event  that  calls 
you  together  this  day,  is  too  well  known  to  you  all. 
You  are  met  to  consider  of  a  proper  person  to  repre- 
sent this  great  commercial  county  in  Parliament ;  an 
object  at  all  times  important  in  itself,  but  rendered 
more  so  by  the  critical  situation  of  public  affairs  at 
this  juncture  ;  it  is  now  we  want  the  abilities,  the  un- 
biassed firmness  of  the  late  Mr.  Coke,  to  protect  the 
interests  of  the  people  ;  it  is  now  we  begin  to  feel  the 
value  of  the  faithful  guardian  we  have  lost ! 

"  Your  choice  this  day,  I  make  no  doubt,  will  fall 
upon  some  gentleman  distinguished  by  a  large  pro- 
perty in  Norfolk,  whose  fortunes  render  him  inde- 
pendent, whose  inclination  is  to  be  so,  and  whose 
ambition  will  lead  him  to  imitate  that  conduct  in 
Parliament  which  does  honour  to  the  memory  of  his 
predecessor,  and  who  may  succeed  the  late  Mr.  Coke 
in  public  virtue  as  well  as  public  station." 

These  diplomatic  remarks,  which  pointed  so  plainly 
to  one  particular  candidate,  were,  it  is  said,  written 
for  the  i  1  gentleman  high  in  office"  by  a  man  named 
Richard  Gardiner,  formerly  a  major  in  the  army, 
better  known  by  his  nom  de  plume  of  Dick  Merry- 


152  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776 

fellow.  The  reputed  son  of  a  Norfolk  clergyman, 
though  by  many  believed  to  be  a  natural  son  of  Lord 
Orford,  he  was  a  witty  writer  of  electioneering  skits, 
verses  and  speeches  ;  and  so  highly  was  his  influence 
valued,  that  it  is  said  he  was  often  paid  by  candidates 
for  his  support.  No  doubt  with  a  view  to  his  future 
advantage  if  he  could  put  young  Coke  under  an  obliga- 
tion to  him,  he  exerted  all  his  influence  to  aid  the 
latter's  election,  and  later  we  shall  see  what  use  he 
endeavoured  to  make  of  his  unsolicited  energy. 

Young  Coke,  however,  was  not  dependent  upon  Dick 
Merryfellow's  favour.  His  position  in  the  county,  his 
attractive  appearance  and  manner,  combined  with  the 
respect  in  which  his  father  had  been  held,  made  his 
election  a  foregone  conclusion.  He  was  unanimously 
chosen  by  the  electors,  and  returned  his  thanks  to  them 
in  "an  elegant  speech  delivered  with  the  most  engag- 
ing address." 

Immediately  after  the  election  the  chairing  took 
place.  The  origin  of  this  custom  is  said  to  have 
been  the  elevation  of  kings  at  their  inauguration  ;  but 
in  Norfolk  it  differed  from  the  chairing  in  other  counties. 
The  Member,  who  stood  on  a  platform  in  front  of  the 
chair,  was  carried  by  four-and-twenty  strong  men  who 
halted  at  every  thirty  or  forty  yards,  and,  at  each  halt, 
tossed  their  burden  three  successive  times  high  in  the 
air  out  of  their  hold,  as  far  as  their  united  strength 
could  send  it,  catching  the  poles  again  as  it  descended. 
To  a  nervous  person  the  experience  was  anything  but 
pleasant,  especially  as  the  Member  thus  conspicuously 
elevated  was  sometimes  a  target  for  brickbats  and  mud 
from  his  less  friendly  constituents. 


THE  ELECTIONEERING  CHAIR 
In  the  possession  of  Mr.  George  C 'libit t,  Norwich 


1776]  EARLY  MANHOOD  1 53 

But,  fortunately,  no  untoward  event  marred  young 
Coke's  experience  as  Knight  of  the  Shire  while,  borne 
shoulder-high  above  the  heads  of  the  people,  he 
occupied  for  the  first  time  the  position  he  was  to  fill 
so  often  during  the  course  of  a  long  life.  The  chair 
beside  which  he  then  stood  is  still  in  existence  in  Nor- 
wich, faded  and  battered,  a  curious  relic  of  bygone 
days.  A  great  unwieldy  throne,  upholstered  in  red  silk, 
it  is  fixed  upon  a  platform  supported  by  two  stout  poles. 
The  back  is  overtopped  with  a  gaudy  design  in  gilt 
carving,  emblematic  of  Plenty,  and  surmounted  by  a 
cap  of  Liberty ;  while  large  gilt  Cupids  in  carved 
wood,  carrying  bunches  of  grapes,  uphold  the  arms  on 
either  side.  From  this  unsteady  eminence  Coke  sur- 
veyed the  scene  around  him  on  that  memorable  day. 
The  market-place  was  full  of  stavesmen  and  spectators, 
every  window  showed  gaily-dressed  women  fluttering 
handkerchiefs  with  a  cockade  in  the  corner  which  bore 
his  colours,  flags  were  flying  and  voices  cheering,  while 
a  cavalcade  of  his  new  constituents  on  horseback  had 
assembled  to  escort  him. 

With  strangely  mingled  feelings  he  must  have 
looked  down  upon  the  boisterous  crowd  beneath.  Life 
stretched  before  him  afresh  with  great  duties  and 
responsibilities.  In  the  last  few  months  he  had  passed 
from  youth  to  manhood.  He  had  married,  had  come 
into  possession  of  his  estates,  and  had  now  been 
chosen  a  representative  of  the  people.  It  is  not 
difficult  to  realise  the  thoughts  which  must  have  swept 
tumultuously  through  his  brain  in  that  moment. 
Knowing  the  temperament  of  the  man,  one  under- 
stands how  he  must  have  looked  on  the  future  with 


154  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776 
awe  and  with  determination — the  awe  of  a  nature 
always  diffident  about  his  own  capabilities,  the  deter- 
mination of  a  nature  always  strong  for  what  he  con- 
sidered right.  The  words  of  his  Manifesto  must  have 
been  present  to  his  mind  :  "  Be  assured,  that  if  I  have 
the  happiness  of  being  elected  your  Representative,  my 
unwearied  Attention  shall  be  given,  not  only  to  the  real 
interests  of  this  County,  but  likewise  to  the  Honour, 
Liberty  and  Welfare  of  the  Nation." 

How  he  should  fulfil  that  promise  his  life  was  to 
show. 

And  so,  amidst  the  cheering,  shouting  crowd,  Coke 
was  borne  in  triumph  through  the  town.  It  was  thus 
that,  two  days  after  his  twenty-second  birthday,  he 
entered  Parliament.  He  was  the  youngest  Member 
when  he  entered  the  House  ;  he  was  the  oldest  when, 
after  a  long  and  honourable  career,  he  retired.  He  was 
elected  for  thirteen  Parliaments,  and  with  the  exception 
of  a  short  break  when  he  judged  it  best  to  retire,  he 
represented  either  Norfolk  or  Derby  for  a  space  of 
fifty-six  years. 


1776] 


CHAPTER  VIII 

EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE 
i 776- i 778 

&tat  22-24 

WHEN  Sir  Edward  Astley  and  Sir  Harbord 
Harbord  had  waited  upon  Coke  in  order 
to  persuade  him  to  stand  for  the  County, 
they  told  him  that  they  would  desire  him 
to  write  one  letter  only  to  one  person,  and  that  was  to 
Lord  Orford,1  the  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Norfolk.  Coke 
wrote  accordingly,  and  asked  Lord  Orford's  support. 
He  received  the  following  answer  : — 

"  My  dear  Sir, 

"  Holkham  and  Houghton  have  ever  been 
united  in  the  strictest  bonds  of  friendship,  and  I 
hope  will  ever  continue  so." 

The  second  time,  however,  when  he  had  occasion  to 
make  the  same  request,  the  answer  was  couched  in  the 
following  terms : — 

"I  have  great  regard  for  you,  but  I  regret  to  see 
that  you  so  often  clog  the  wheels  of  the  Govern- 
ment." 

None  the  less,  Lord  Orford  did  not  then  withdraw 
his  support ;  but  when,  on  a  third  occasion,  Coke 

1  George,  third  Earl  of  Orford,  a  man  of  very  eccentric  mind  and 
habits. 

155 


156  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776 

again  applied  for  it,  the  answer  returned  was  as 
follows  : — 

"Sir, 

"I  respect  you  as  an  Agriculturist,  but  you 
must  not  turn  the  County  of  Norfolk  into  a  borough." 

And  Lord  Orford  threw  all  his  weight  into  the 
opposite  scale. 

The  attitude  of  Lord  Orford  may  be  considered 
typical  of  the  manner  in  which  Coke's  opponents  were 
disposed  to  regard  him  ; — at  first  with  complacent  in- 
difference, soon  with  growing  alarm,  next  with  a  very 
respectful  fear.  The  fact  of  his  devotion  to  field  sports 
and  his  known  reluctance  to  enter  the  political  arena,  for 
a  time  blinded  them  to  the  underlying  determination  of 
his  character  and  his  invincible  earnestness. 

There  is  no  doubt  that,  when  he  entered  Parliament, 
a  political  career  had  little  attraction  for  him.  As  a 
means  of  personal  advancement  it  was  as  useless  as  it 
was  unpalatable  to  him.  On  the  one  hand,  he  was 
wholly  without  that  ambition  which  is  a  craving  for 
gratified  vanity.  He  disliked  the  fret  of  party  strife, 
the  petty  jealousies  of  contending  factions.  Country 
life  with  its  peaceful  pursuits  had  always  been  more  in 
harmony  with  his  temperament.  To  follow  his  hounds 
in  exciting  chase  through  Suffolk,  Oxford,  or  Essex ; 
to  tramp  with  his  gun  through  the  keen  Norfolk  air  in 
a  long  day's  sport ;  to  live  in  the  midst  of  his  tenants  ; 
to  gather  his  friends  about  him  and  make  them  taste  of 
a  hospitality  which  was  princely — this  existence  ap- 
pealed to  him  far  more  strongly  than  the  strain  of 
public  life  and  its  often  unworthy  ambitions.    On  the 


1776]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  157 

other  hand,  a  mere  youth  in  years,  he  found  himself, 
without  personal  exertion,  already  possessed  of  all 
which  could  render  existence  enjoyable.  Recently 
married  to  a  wife  to  whom  he  was  deeply  attached,  the 
owner  of  great  wealth  and  of  a  palatial  home,  the  in- 
heritor of  a  position  which,  as  a  Commoner,  was  un- 
assailable, he  had  nothing  to  gain,  and  much  to  lose, 
by  letting  himself  drift  into  the  vortex  of  a  public 
career. 

Yet  he  threw  himself  with  characteristic  vigour  into 
the  work  which  had  been  thrust  upon  him.  He  had 
been  bred  among  those  to  whom  party  spirit  was  not 
merely  a  pose  dictated  by  convenience — a  gentle  lever 
to  professional  success,  but  a  burning  force,  a  breeder 
of  great  loves  and  greater  hatreds,  a  creed  whose  nega- 
tion was  a  blasphemy ;  to  whom  there  could  be  no 
uprightness,  no  honesty  outside  of  the  faction  to  which 
they  themselves  belonged.  And  he  was  of  the  days  of 
immense  concentration,  of  stubborn  conviction,  of 
heartwhole  energy  ;  when  existence,  spent  of  necessity 
in  a  more  circumscribed  area,  battened  on  its  own 
personality ;  when  those  of  like  persuasion,  herding 
together,  waxed  stubborn  in  each  other's  strength ; 
when  individuality  was  not  dissipated  in  the  eternal 
contact  with  counter-currents,  in  the  hurry  of  a  life 
which,  while  broadening  each  man's  outlook,  cripples 
his  assurance.  There  were  giants  on  the  earth  in  those 
days  ;  they  were  the  days  of  great  achievements. 

So  to  Coke,  with  his  splendid  youth  emphasising  its 
boundless  capacity  for  enjoyment,  and  his  boundless 
means  for  gratifying  that  capacity,  the  claims  of  duty 
and  of  patriotism  remained  paramount.    The  principles 


158  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776 

which  he  had  imbibed  with  his  earliest  boyhood  were 
bred  in  his  bone  and  had  grown  with  his  growth. 
They  were  as  defined  and  staunch  at  this  the  com- 
mencement of  his  career,  as  they  remained  to  its  close. 
* 1  When  I  was  first  elected,"  he  said  half  a  century 
later,  "I  told  the  freeholders  the  line  of  conduct  I 
should  pursue.  I  told  them  I  was  a  Whig  of  the  old 
school,  a  lover  of  the  principles  of  the  Revolution  of 
1688,  and  by  that  line  of  conduct  my  course  should  be 
governed."  To  fear  God,  to  help  Man,  and  to  hate  all 
Tories,  those  were  the  tenets  to  which  he  considered 
himself  pledged.  There  was  in  his  character,  we  are 
told,  a  remarkable  simplicity  and  a  complete  lack  of 
egotism  which  was  infinitely  lovable,  as  it  was, 
perhaps,  infinitely  remarkable  in  his  peculiar  circum- 
stances. But  devoid  of  all  self-assurance  as  he  always 
remained  with  regard  to  his  own  capabilities,  he  was 
already  decided  in  his  views  and  unalterably  con- 
sistent in  his  code  of  action.  A  passionate  love  of 
justice  and  of  fair-play  ;  an  unbroken  attachment  to 
civil  and  religious  freedom  ;  a  hatred  of  all  taint  of 
oppression  and  coercion,  of  all  intolerance  and  bigotry 
— these  were  the  leading  characteristics  of  his  nature, 
alike  at  this,  the  outset  of  his  career,  as  at  its  close. 

Years  afterwards,  on  retiring  from  Parliament,  he 
described  his  feelings  on  his  first  entry  into  political 
life  ;  and  they  are  best  given  in  his  own  words  : — 

"  When  I  first  offered  myself  for  this  county,  I  did 
so  with  great  reluctance,  for  I  had  no  wish  to  come 
into  Parliament.  I  was  no  orator,  no  politician.  I 
was  young,  and  just  returned  from  abroad,  and  my 
own  pursuits  (if  I  could  appeal  to  the  ladies)  were 
much  more  congenial  to  my  feelings.    But  I  was 


1776]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  159 


much  solicited  by  Sir  Harbord  Harbord,  Sir  E. 
Astley  and  Mr.  Fellows  of  Shottisham,  who  said,  and 
said  truly,  that  I  owed  it  to  my  father's  memory,  and 
to  Sir  E.  Astley,  who  had  just  stood  a  severe  contest; 
and  that,  if  I  did  not  stand,  a  Tory  would  come  in. 
At  the  mention  of  a  Tory  coming  in,  gentlemen,  my 
blood  chilled  all  over  me  from  head  to  foot,  and  I 
came  forward.  Educated  as  I  had  been  in  the  belief 
that  a  Tory  was  not  a  friend  to  liberty  and  the 
Revolution — but  a  friend  to  passive  obedience  and 
non-resistance — a  supporter  of  bribery  and  cor- 
ruption and  of  all  the  evils  of  oligarchy — I  could 
not  resist  !  I  had  not  been  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons two  months  when  Charles  Tompson  said  to  me 
one  day — "  If  Mr.  Coke  is  inclined  for  a  Peerage,  I 
will  mention  it." — Soon  after  this  the  Duke  of 
Portland  wrote  to  me,  and  said  that  the  King  allowed 
them  to  make  three  Peers,  and  that  I  should  be  the 
first  if  I  liked.  I  immediately  went  to  London,  to 
Burlington  House,  and  called  on  the  noble  Duke, 
and  told  him  I  was  astonished  that  he  should  think  I 
would  desert  Mr.  Fox,  and  that  so  great  was  my 
regard  for  him  (Mr.  Fox)  so  long  as  I  lived  I  would 
ever  support  him."  1 

The  bait  of  a  peerage  offered  thus  at  the  very  outset 
of  Coke's  parliamentary  career,  and  the  complaint  in 
Lord  Orford's  letter  previously  quoted,  that,  as  a 
Member  of  very  brief  standing,  Coke  was  already 
able  to  "clog  the  wheels  of  Government,"  is  suffi- 
ciently remarkable,  and  shows  that  his  was  very  early 
recognised  as  an  influence  which  it  was  well  to  con- 
ciliate, or  to  suppress. 

But  although,  as  he  points  out,  he  was  no  orator,  no 
polished  rhetorician,  he  speedily  acquired  the  reputa- 
tion of  a  man  who  swayed  his  hearers  by  the  mere 

1  See  Farmer  s  Magazine  (1843),  p.  3. 


160  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776 

force  of  his  immense  sincerity.  He  never  spoke  on 
any  subject  on  which  his  conviction  was  not  absolute. 
The  strength  of  his  personality,  his  overwhelming  in- 
tegrity, impressed  his  hearers  as  a  more  studied  elo- 
quence would  have  failed  to  do.  Owing  to  the  laxity 
with  which  the  Parliamentary  records  and  newspaper 
reports  were  kept  at  that  date,  often  only  incom- 
plete fragments  of  current  speeches  were  preserved. 
Despite  this,  with  regard  to  Fox's  eloquence  Lord 
Erskine  remarked  that  "in  the  most  imperfect  relics 
of  his  speeches  the  bones  of  a  giant  are  discoverable  " ; 
and  although  the  same  verdict,  from  the  same  stand- 
point, cannot  be  applied  to  the  often  distorted  survivals 
of  Coke's  utterances,  yet  of  those,  too,  one  feels  that  they 
reveal  a  man  of  bolder,  grander  mould  than  his  fellows 
— not,  be  it  again  emphasised,  a  giant  in  rhetoric, 
but  a  giant  in  individuality,  in  honesty  of  purpose, 
in  the  fearless  expression  of  that  honesty.  "  I 
have  nothing  to  ask  from  either  side  of  the  House," 
Coke  stated;  "I  speak  merely  as  an  honest  man 
representing  a  great  and  important  county "  ; 1  and 
in  that  very  simplicity  lay  his  strength. 

"  Mr.  Coke,"  we  are  told,  "though  a  very  constant 
attendant  on  his  Parliamentary  duties,  and  a  ready 
speaker,  had  no  ambition  to  rank  high  as  an  orator. 
His  speeches  are  few,  short,  and  unornamental.  He 
spoke  in  the  style  and  in  the  character  of  a  liberal  and 
independent  Country  gentleman  ;  but  whatever  he  said 
had  the  merit  of  being  simple  and  to  the  point."2 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  Vol.  XXXI,  p.  782. 

2  Pamphlet,  Thomas  William  Coke,  Earl  of  Leicester,  published  by 
Whiting,  Beaufort  House,  Strand,  circa  1838. 


1776]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  161 

Thus,  at  this  distance  of  time,  and  when  interest  in 
the  topics  discussed  has  grown  cold,  there  is  a  life,  a 
force  about  his  remarks  which  still  can  impress  one  with 
the  moral  strength  of  the  man,  and  can  enable  one  to 
understand  the  verdict  pronounced  at  the  close  of  his 
career,  how  the  mere  influence  of  his  example  for  more 
than  half  a  century  had  had  an  extraordinary  effect  in 
keeping  up  the  standard  of  public  morality.1  Indeed, 
when  his  indignation  was  aroused  by  any  acts  of  in- 
justice, of  oppression  or  corruption,  he  denounced 
these  with  a  heartwhole  abhorrence  which  was  apt  to 
occasion  alarm  to  timid  hearers.  "  If,"  says  the 
Farmer's  Magazine  in  anxious  apology,  "in  some  of 
his  after-dinner  addresses  he  betrayed  a  want  of  taste  in 
culling  his  expressions  of  contempt,  he  did  it  out  of  the 
overwhelming  conviction  of  his  own  mind,  and  not 
with  a  desire  to  wound  ! " 

There  is  no  doubt  that,  from  his  first  entrance  into 
public  life,  carried  away  by  his  convictions,  his 
vehemence  often  gave  a  handle  to  his  enemies  ;  for, 
like  his  ancestor,  the  Lord  Chief  Justice,  he  was  no 
time-server,  no  respecter  of  persons.  To  him  the 
truth  was  so  vital,  the  cause  to  which  he  had  pledged 
himself  so  sacred,  that  the  more  squeamish  susceptibili- 
ties of  an  illiberal  audience,  or  the  minor  considerations 
of  his  personal  popularity  could  not  weigh  in  the 
balance.  In  reference  to  this  we  are  told — "  It  has 
been  charged  against  his  public  conduct  that  it  was 
generally  marked  by  vehemence  and  intemperance, 
and  those  who  did  not  know  him  imagined  that  his 
natural  disposition  was  violent.    No  mistake  was  ever 

1  op.  tit 

I.— M 


162  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776 
greater.  He  was,  it  is  true,  ardent  and  honesty  and 
was  never  disposed  to  compromise  or  conceal  any  fact 
or  any  opinion  connected  with  public  duty.  He  rarely 
appeared  or  spoke  but  on  the  occasions  when  the 
abuses  he  denounced  demanded  energetic  opposition."1 
In  later  life  he  once  told  a  characteristic  story  of 
these  the  early  days  of  his  political  career.  It  appears 
that  his  friends  were  anxious  to  arrange  a  dinner  in 
Yarmouth  on  his  behalf,  and  applied  to  the  Mayor 
of  that  town  for  permission  to  use  the  town  hall  for  that 
purpose.  The  Mayor,  a  man  of  conventional  views 
and  cautious  disposition,  took  alarm  at  anything  which 
might,  in  its  development,  affect  his  civic  dignity.  So 
he  made  his  acquiescence  to  depend  on  what  Coke 
afterwards  described  as  "an  insulting  and  suspicious 
stipulation  " — he  would  lend  the  hall,  he  said,  if  Mr. 
Coke  would  give  a  solemn  promise  not  to  abuse  the 
Corporation.  Needless  to  say,  the  offer  was  not 
accepted  and  the  promise  not  given.  Whereupon 
a  man  of  less  timid  temperament,  the  manager  of  the 
theatre,  came  forward  and  offered  the  loan  of  his 
building  for  the  required  purpose  ;  an  offer  which  was 
at  once  accepted.  But  the  wrath  of  the  local  magnates 
at  what  they  considered  a  defiance  of  their  authority 
knew  no  bounds.  With  a  system  of  petty  tyranny 
which  it  is  difficult  to  credit,  they  informed  the 
manager  that,  in  future,  neither  would  they  attend  the 
theatre  themselves,  nor  allow  their  wives  and  daughters 
to  do  so. 

Coke  went  to  the  dinner  ;  but  he  told  the  Corpora- 

1  Undated  newspaper  extract,  preserved  by  the  Hon.  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Keppel,  fifth  son  of  William  Charles,  fourth  Earl  of  Albemarle. 


1776]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  163 

tion  very  plainly  what  he  thought  of  their  conduct ; 
and  it  was  twenty-five  years  before  he  could  again  be 
persuaded  to  dine  in  Yarmouth. 

"  A  public  man  like  myself,"  he  said,  when  relating 
the  story  fifty  years  afterwards,  "is  undoubtedly  fair 
game.  In  early  life  I  went  to  Yarmouth,  but  found  so 
much  illiberality  in  the  Corporation,  that  I  told  them  : 
i  There  is  an  illiberality  in  your  conduct  which  I  do 
not  like  ;  I  shall  never  again  make  my  appearance 
here  until  you  have  a  Mayor  presiding  of  opposite 
principles.' " 

Twenty-five  years  later,  Mr.  Palgrave,  a  Mayor  of 
this  description,  reminded  Coke  of  his  promise,  and 
called  upon  him  to  redeem  it.  Coke  did  so,  and 
attended  the  Mayor's  dinner,  but  the  circumstances  of 
his  former  visit  were  fresh  in  his  memory,  and  he  took 
a  subtle  satisfaction  in  giving  frank  expression  to  his 
political  views.  The  Corporation,  moreover,  had  not 
waxed  more  liberal  with  the  flight  of  years  and  their 
change  of  chief.  They  took  alarm  very  early  in  the 
evening,  and,  in  a  body,  they  hurried  from  the  room. 
"Truth  to  tell,"  said  Coke,  when  relating  the  inci- 
dent, "  I  drove  all  the  Corporation  from  the  room — 
but  perhaps  the  company  was  not  much  the  worse  for 
that ! " 

The  story,  however,  is  valuable  as  an  indication  of 
the  manner  in  which  his  influence  was  regarded,  even 
in  the  very  early  days  of  his  career.  A  reluctant  poli- 
tician of  twenty-two,  he  had  already  made  himself 
recognised  as  a  power  to  be  feared.  The  timid  mag- 
nates of  a  provincial  town,  the  wary  ministers  of  a 
powerful  Cabinet  alike  adopted  methods  which  seemed 


1 64  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776 

to  them  politic  in  an  attempt  to  stifle  his  inconvenient 
honesty.    And  both  alike  failed. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  not  roused  to  resentment 
by  what  he  considered  a  just  cause,  no  human  being 
was  ever  more  forgetful  of  injuries,  more  peaceful  in 
his  tastes  and  disposition,  and  more  equable  in  daily 
life.  His  contemporaries  describe  him  as  of  a  "de- 
lightful temper,"  and  invariably  speak  of  him  as  un- 
assuming, sincere,  and  marvellously  free  from  egoism. 
He  had  a  horror  of  flattery,  and  no  man  saw  through  it 
more  quickly  or  treated  it  with  greater  contempt.  On 
one  occasion,  soon  after  he  came  into  possession  of 
Holkham,  his  health  was  proposed  at  a  dinner,  and  the 
proposer  was  proceeding  to  preface  his  toast  by  a 
speech  of  fulsome  compliments,  when  Coke  suddenly 
disconcerted  the  flow  of  his  eloquence  by  murmuring 
gently — 

Lay  it  on  thick, 
Some  of  it  will  stick  ! 

Still  more,  his  father's  philosophy  of  loyalty  to  his 
friends  and  indifference  to  his  enemies  was  never 
absent  from  his  remembrance  ;  it  formed  the  great  and 
commanding  rule  of  his  life,  and  lay  at  the  root  of  his 
unfaltering  independence  of  action  and  opinion. 

He  was  still  very  young  when  he  attended  a  public 
meeting  in  Norfolk  where  a  man  was  present  who  had 
great  influence  in  the  county,  and  whose  friendship 
was  of  great  importance  to  him  from  an  electioneering 
point  of  view.  But  there  were  certain  things  in  this 
man's  conduct  of  which  Coke  disapproved,  and  he 
unhesitatingly  told  the  man  in  no  measured  terms  what 
he  thought  of  him.    On  leaving  the  building,  a  friend 


1776]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  165 

of  Coke's  remonstrated  roundly  with  him,  and  told  him 
that  he  had  been  most  unwise;  "  You  have  made  an 
enemy  of  that  man  for  life,"  he  complained.  4 'And 
with  his  conduct,  what  was  he  before  ?  "  retorted  Coke. 
"  I  will  tell  you  one  thing — my  father  called  me  to  him 
when  I  was  a  boy,  and  said,  '  Tom,  stick  to  your 
friends,  and  disregard  your  enemies  ! '  I  have  done 
so,  and  will  do  so  to  the  end  of  my  existence  ! " 

Soon  after  Coke  entered  Parliament,  Lord  Rocking- 
ham, the  head  of  the  Whig  party,  invited  him  to  a 
Ministerial  dinner.  There  he  met  and  was  formally 
introduced  to  Charles  James  Fox,  and  there  the  founda- 
tions of  a  lifelong  attachment  were  laid.  Very  rapidly 
their  political  relations  developed  into  a  warm  personal 
friendship  which  terminated  only  with  Fox's  death  in 
1806.  Fox  described  Coke  as  one  of  "the  brightest 
ornaments  of  England  " ; 1  while,  as  a  statesman,  Coke 
admired  Fox's  principles  ;  and  as  a  man  revered  the 
qualities  which,  in  spite  of  Fox's  very  obvious  faults, 
made  him  lovable  to  his  contemporaries,  and  still 
endears  his  name  to  posterity.  "When  I  first  went 
into  Parliament,"  Coke  related  at  his  last  nomination 
in  1830,  "  I  attached  myself  to  Fox,  and  I  clung  to  him 
through  life.  I  lived  in  the  closest  bond  of  friendship 
with  him.  He  was  a  friend  of  the  people,  the  practiser 
of  every  kindness  and  generosity,  the  advocate  of  Civil 
and  Religious  liberty."2 

Although  Coke  was  devoid  of,  and  indeed  had  a 
special  abhorrence  of  the  particular  vices  which  marred 
Fox's  character,  there  was  in  other  respects  much  akin 

1  Hist.  Mems.  of  His  Own  Time,  by  Nathaniel  Wraxall  (1836), 
Vol.  I,  p.  244.  2  Norwich  Mercury,  August  7th,  1830. 


166  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776 

in  their  natures.  Both  upheld  liberty  as  the  very  life 
of  the  State  and  the  very  breath  of  existence  ;  both 
were  simple  and  unostentatious  in  their  tastes,  pre- 
ferring country  life  and  hating  the  prominence  of  a 
public  career  ;  both  were  disinterested,  downright  and 
incautious  in  the  vehemence  of  their  sincerity.  For 
Fox's  oratory  Coke  had  the  most  profound  admiration. 
To  the  end  of  his  life  he  used  to  say  that  none  but 
those  who  had  heard  it  could  ever  form  any  conception 
of  that  marvellous  fluency.  For  five  hours  at  a  stretch 
Fox  would  speak  without  notes,  without  preparation 
of  any  description,  and  during  all  that  time  not  once 
would  he  hesitate  for  a  word  to  convey  his  exact  mean- 
ing to  his  hearers,  or  pause  to  sift  the  arguments 
which  poured  from  him  in  one  impassioned  flow  of 
eloquence.  The  genius  of  Fox  appealed  to  Coke  only 
less  than  the  principles  it  was  employed  to  advocate. 
"So  great  is  my  regard  for  Fox,  so  long  as  I  live 
will  I  ever  support  him,"  Coke  vowed  in  the  dawn  of 
his  political  life,  and  he  was  faithful  to  the  principles  in- 
volved in  this  resolution  till  the  day  of  his  own  death. 

His  loyalty  was  very  early  put  to  the  test.  The 
moment  when  he  entered  Parliament  was  a  moment  of 
great  national  crisis.  England's  quarrel  with  America, 
brought  about  by  the  arbitrary  and  tactless  policy  of 
the  British  Government,  had  reached  a  crucial  stage. 
The  blockade  of  Quebec  had  just  been  raised.  The 
American  Congress  was  preparing  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  a  circular  Manifesto  to  be  sent  to  the 
several  Colonies,  thirteen  of  whom,  on  July  4th,  abjured 
all  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown.  And  meanwhile, 
in  order  to  remedy  the  mischief  of  past  tardiness,  the 


1776]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  167 

English  Government  determined  to  carry  on  the  struggle 
with  a  vigour  which  should  astonish  all  Europe,  and  to 
employ  such  an  army  as  had  never  before  entered  the 
New  World.  This,  it  was  considered,  would  be  the 
most  effectual  means  of  silencing  clamour  and  of  pre- 
venting troublesome  and  now  useless  inquiries.  For 
the  English,  as  a  nation,  are  philosophic,  and  resign 
themselves  to  the  inevitable  with  a  dogged  determina- 
tion to  make  the  best  of  a  bad  job.  When  once  the 
people  were  heartily  engaged  in  a  war,  it  was  believed 
that  they  would  no  longer  cavil  over  the  causes  which 
had  led  to  it ;  they  would  be  agreed  that,  whoever  was 
right  in  the  beginning,  American  insolence  deserved 
chastisement ;  and,  their  national  and  military  pride  at 
stake,  they  would  carry  the  struggle  through  with 
eagerness  and  determination.  Still  more,  the  efforts 
of  the  minority,  battling  against  general  opinion,  and 
apparently  directed  against  the  national  interest,  would 
every  day  become  more  feeble,  and  deprive  them  of 
popularity,  which  is  the  soul  of  opposition. 

From  the  first,  Coke,  of  his  very  nature,  was 
vehemently  opposed  to  the  American  war ;  and  he 
voted  in  the  first  minority  against  it.  Not  only  did  he 
foresee  its  disastrous  consequences  and  deplore  the 
mistaken  policy  which  had  led  to  it ;  not  only  did  he 
recognise  that  the  American  States — who,  as  our  allies, 
were  a  source  of  our  commercial  prosperity — as  a  people 
conquered  and  alienated  could  prove  only  an  impossible 
drain  upon  our  resources,  a  perpetual  menace  to  our 
tranquillity.  Stronger  than  any  motives  of  selfish  policy 
to  him  was  the  question  of  fair  play.  Taxation  without 
representation  was  radically  unjust ;  those  who  paid 


168  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776 
the  taxes  had  a  right  to  appoint  those  who  imposed  the 
taxes  ;  upon  that  ground  alone  he  opposed  the  pro- 
secution of  the  war.  For  the  Colonies  had  been  goaded 
into  insurrection  ;  the  Declaration  of  Independence  had 
at  first  been  accepted  by  twelve  out  of  the  thirteen 
States  unwillingly,  and  only  when  all  hope  of  com- 
promise was  at  an  end.  The  Colonists,  individually, 
were  men  who  were  attached  to  the  Crown,  who  did 
not  desire  emancipation,  who  only  demanded  justice  as 
the  pledge  of  their  loyalty.  And  Coke,  recognising  the 
reasonable  nature  of  their  demands,  believed,  even  at  this 
critical  juncture,  that  it  was  not  too  late  for  an  Adminis- 
tration with  insight  and  tact  to  cope  with  the  situation. 

But  the  obstinacy  of  the  King,  the  incompetency  of 
the  Ministers,  were  fatal  to  a  pacific  adjustment. 
George  III  declared  that  he  would  never  yield,  or  give 
office  to  any  man  "  who  will  not  first  sign  a  declaration 
that  he  will  keep  the  Empire  entire,  and  that  no  troops 
shall  consequently  be  withdrawn  from  America,  or  inde- 
pendence ever  allowed."  The  war  was  the  King's 
war  ;  the  Ministers  were  his  tools  ;  by  the  bulk  of  the 
people,  and,  unfortunately,  by  the  educated  classes,  the 
whole  question  was  woefully  misunderstood  ;  while  the 
friction  of  rival  parties  made  it  impossible  to  promote 
a  clearer  understanding.  Coke  had  early  learnt  to  dread 
the  King's  influence  in  politics,  the  narrow,  unconstitu- 
tional policy  of  George  III,  which,  rightly  or  wrongly, 
had  been  attributed  to  Bute's  pernicious  teaching.  In 
allying  himself  with  Fox  in  opposition  to  what  was 
known  as  the  King's  party,  he  was  aware  that  he 
espoused  an  unpopular,  and,  as  it  was  believed  at  the 
time  to  be,  a  losing  cause.    For  to  uphold  the  King's 


1776]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  169 

policy  was  the  way  to  place  and  power ;  to  oppose  it 
was  to  incur  royal  and  all  but  universal  disfavour  ;  the 
dissentients  to  the  war  were,  by  the  majority,  considered 
to  be  the  professed  enemies  of  their  King  and  country. 
— Later,  when  the  truth  of  their  conclusions  had  been 
disastrously  proved,  men  recognised,  too,  the  disinter- 
ested honesty  of  their  struggle  for  justice.  That  small 
minority  who  had  kept  their  honour  unstained  were 
then  seen  to  be  the  true  upholders  of  the  vaunted 
British  Constitution  and  of  the  traditional  British  love 
of  freedom.  But,  for  the  present,  misapprehension 
and  calumny  dogged  their  footsteps. 

At  the  opening  of  the  next  Session  on  October  31st, 
the  King,  in  his  speech,  declared  that  it  was  necessary 
to  prepare  for  another  campaign,  as  the  revolted 
Colonies  had  rejected  ' '  with  circumstances  of  indignity 
and  insult,  the  means  of  conciliation  held  out  to  them 
under  the  authority  of  our  Commission."  An  address 
of  thanks  was  framed  in  the  usual  manner  ;  but  to  this 
an  amendment  was  moved  by  Lord  John  Cavendish, 
deprecating  the  attitude  of  the  British  Government  to- 
wards the  Colonies,  and  pointing  out  how  greatly  their 
grievances  had  been  misunderstood  and  misrepresented. 

It  was  with  regard  to  this  Amendment  that  Fox 
wrote  the  first  letter  which  is  extant  from  him  to  Coke, 
and  which,  differing  in  tone  from  his  later  correspond- 
ence, shows  that  their  acquaintance  had  not  yet  ripened 
into  the  intimate  friendship  which  afterwards  sub- 
sisted between  them. 

"  Dear  Sir, 

"  I  am  very  happy  to  acquaint  you  that  every- 
thing is  settled  much  to  our  wishes.    Lord  John  is  to 


I/O  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776 


move  the  amendment  much  upon  the  plan  of  Lord 
North's,  only  omitting  the  Loyalist  clause.  Lord 
North  will  support  him  and  move  to  insert  some 
words  favourable  to  the  Loyalists,  to  which,  if  they 
are  moderate,  we  are  not  to  object.  I  found  Lord  N. 
as  reasonable  as  we  could  desire.  I  trust  this  will 
give  general  satisfaction  to  all  our  friends,  as  it  has 
to  those  in  this  room  who  have  heard  it. 

"  I  am,  dear  sir, 

"  Your  humble  and  obt.  servant, 

"  Charles  James  Fox. 

"Sunday  night,  St.  James'  St." 

The  Amendment  concluded  with  the  significant 
words : — 

"  We  shall  look  with  the  utmost  shame  and  horror 
on  any  events  that  shall  tend  to  break  the  spirit  of 
any  large  part  of  the  British  Nation,  to  bow  them  to 
an  abject,  unconditional  submission  to  any  Power 
whatsoever  .  .  .  for  though  differing  in  some  cir- 
cumstances, those  principles  evidently  bear  so  striking 
an  analogy  to  those  which  support  the  most  valuable 
part  of  our  own  Constitution,  that  it  is  impossible 
with  any  appearance  of  justice  to  think  of  wholly 
expelling  them  by  the  sword  in  any  part  of  His 
Majesty's  dominions  without  admitting  consequences 
the  most  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  this  kingdom." 

Coke,  Fox,  Wilkes,  Thomas  Townshend  and  Colonel 
Barre  supported  the  Amendment.  Lord  North  only 
mildly  repelled  the  charge  of  hypocrisy  which  it 
suggested  against  that  portion  of  the  King's  speech 
which  expressed  His  Majesty's  desire  to  restore  to  the 
Americans  law  and  liberty.  The  set  against  it,  how- 
ever, was  too  strong,  and  it  was  defeated  by  242  against 

87. 

Henceforward  opposition  to  prerogative  Government 


1776]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  171 


became  the  watchword  of  the  Whig  party  ;  and  Coke, 
faithful  to  it,  adopted  two  toasts  to  which,  throughout 
his  life,  he  always  gave  prominence  on  every  public 
occasion. 
One  was — 

"  A  Ministry  which  will  support  what  is  right, 
And  a  Parliament  which  will  support  nothing  wrong." 

The  other — 

"The  respectability  of  the  Crown, 
The  durability  of  the  Constitution 
And  the  prosperity  of  the  people."1 

He  also  adopted  as  his  badge  the  colours  of  blue  and 
buff,  in  consequence  of  the  blue  coat  and  buff  waistcoat 
which  Fox  had  made  popular  among  his  followers,  and 
which  closely  resembled  the  military  uniform  worn  by 
the  levies  commanded  by  Washington. 

Meanwhile  he  was  busily  occupied  with  the  affairs  of 
the  county  which  he  represented.    In  1776  his  name 

1  In  the  Creevey  Papers  mention  is  made  of  the  Duke  of  Sussex 
having-  quoted  a  garbled  version  of  the  latter  toast.  The  Hon.  H.  C. 
Bennet,  writing  to  Creevey  from  Brooks',  1814,  says  :  "Our  dinner  last 
night  was  good  and  well  managed  and  a  good  spice  of  Whiggism.  The 
Duke  of  Sussex  talked  very  sad  stuff,  and  his  last  feat  was  the  following 
toast,  1  Respectability  to  the  Crown,  Durability  to  the  Constitution,  and 
Independence  to  the  people.'  Mr.  Keppel,  however,  states  that  both  the 
toasts  given  above  were  the  '■favourite  and  original  toasts'  of  Mr.  Coke, 
and  the  Duke  never  attended  the  Holkham  Sheep-shearings  without 
giving  the  latter  toast  as  Coke  himself  gave  it.  Lord  Albemarle  gives 
another  version  as  '  The  Liberty  of  the  Subject '  "  {Fifty  Years  of  My  Life, 
by  George  Thomas,  Earl  of  Albemarle,  1876,  Vol.  II,  p.  3).  It  would  be 
interesting  to  know  if  Mr.  Bennet  talked  of  the  Duke's  toast  as  "sad 
stuff"  because  it  was  new  to  him  personally,  or  because  the  usual 
formula  was  misquoted,  as  on  the  famous  occasion  when  the  toast  was 
given  as  '  The  Majesty  of  the  People,'  or  'Our  Sovereign — the  People.' 
— See  The  Life  and  Times  of  C.  J.  Fox,  by  Earl  Russell  (1866),  Vol.  Ill, 
p.  168. 


172  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1778 

was  on  the  list  of  the  Grand  Jury  of  the  Norfolk 
Summer  Assizes  ;  while,  from  time  to  time,  it  appears 
in  other  public  capacities  ;  but  an  event  in  January, 
1778,  first  served  to  bring  it  into  political  prominence. 

A  memorable  public  meeting  was  then  convened  at 
Norwich.  An  advertisement  for  this  was  first  issued, 
inviting,  as  it  explains — 

* '  All  who  are  disposed  at  this  critical  juncture  to  assist 
the  exertions  of  the  British  Empire  in  support  of  the 
Constitutional  authority,  to  defend  these  kingdoms,  if 
necessary,  against  any  foreign  attack." 

This  meeting  was  called  at  the  "  Maid's  Head,"  the 
famous  old  inn  in  Norwich  where  Queen  Elizabeth 
stayed,  and  where  the  room  in  which  she  slept  is  still 
used,  little  changed  since  she  occupied  it. 

A  counter-advertisement  promptly  appeared  summon- 
ing the  opponents  of  war  to  meet  at  the  Swan  Inn.  It 
was  couched  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"To  the  Nobility,  Clergy,  Freeholders,  and 
Inhabitants  of  the  County  of  Norfolk, 
and  of  the  City  &  County  of  Norwich." 

"  There  being  reason  to  apprehend  that  there  is  a 
design  of  attempting  to  raise  a  regiment  in  Norfolk  pro- 
fessedly for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  hostilities  in 
America,  and  engaging  this  County  and  City  of  Norwich 
into  giving  a  sanction  to  those  measures  which  directly 
tend  to  the  protracting  of  this  fatal  war  ;  lest  the  resolu- 
tions of  those  who  still  wish  for  coercive  measures  should 
be  deemed  the  declaratory  sense  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Norfolk  and  Norwich  respecting  the  present  unhappy 
contest — it  is  wished  that  a  general  meeting  of  the 
Nobility,  Gentry  and  others  may  be  held  at  the  White 
Swan  in  St.  Peter's,  Norwich,  on  Wednesday  the  28th  of 
this  instant  January,  precisely  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  fore- 
noon,  to   consider   whether   any   measure   that  gives 


1778]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  173 


countenance  or  support  to  so  burdensome,  fruitless  and 
inglorious  a  war  can  be  consistent  with  the  landed  and 
trading  interest  of  the  County  and  City  of  Norwich,  or 
is  conformable  to  the  wishes  and  sentiments  of  the  inde- 
pendent part  of  the  inhabitants." 

Needless  to  say,  it  was  this  latter  meeting  which 
Coke  attended  ;  but  when  the  opponents  of  the  war 
were  assembled  at  the  ' ' Swan,"  it  was  decided  that  they 
should  confront  the  meeting  then  assembling  at  the 
"  Maid's  Head,"  and,  accordingly,  they  repaired  thither. 
They  found  Sir  John  Wodehouse  in  the  chair,  and  the 
business  being  opened  by  Lord  Townshend,  then 
Master  of  the  Ordnance,  who  stated  that  he  had  called 
his  friends  together — 

"  For  the  purpose  of  consulting  upon  the  means  of 
affording  such  assistance  as  should  best  enable  the 
Government,  at  this  critical  juncture,  to  exert  itself 
for  the  support  of  the  Constitutional  Authority  of  the 
British  Empire  ;  that  the  unhappy  war  in  which  we 
were  engaged  with  America  was  unavoidably  at- 
tended with  large  expense,  had  been  followed  by  a 
destruction  of  men,  and  a  waste  of  force,  which  was 
much  to  be  lamented,  and  that  our  natural  enemies, 
it  was  much  to  be  apprehended,  would  avail  them- 
selves of  our  situation,  and  therefore  it  was  become 
necessary  to  be  provided  with  a  force  that  would 
enable  us  to  resist  any  attack  that  might  be  made 
upon  us  at  home.  For  which  reason  he  submitted  to 
the  company  whether  opening  a  subscription  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  levies  to  fill  up  those  Corps  which 
had  been  considerably  reduced,  and  might  be  ex- 
pected to  return  from  America,  would  not,  as  it 
appeared  to  him,  be  the  least  exceptionable  and  most 
beneficial  made." 

Lord  Townshend  was  seconded  by  Henry  Hobart, 
brother  to  Lord  Buckinghamshire.    But  the  occasion 


174  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1778 
was  made  memorable  by  the  fact  that  Mr.  Windham  of 
Felbrigg  arose  and  made  his  first  public  speech.  Tall, 
keen-eyed  and  athletic  as  when  in  his  schooldays  at 
Eton  Coke  had  known  him  as  ' i  Fighting  Windham," 
he  stood  before  the  excited  crowd  ;  and  although  so 
often  in  after-life  accredited  with  being  a  nervous  and  a 
diffident  speaker,  enthusiasm  for  his  subject  now  ban- 
ished all  self-consciousness,  while  in  a  clear,  strong 
voice  he  detailed  at  length  the  past,  and  anticipated 
the  future  public  consequences  of  the  war,  protesting 
against  the  subscription  proposed  at  the  meeting.  Coke 
succeeded  him,  strongly  concurring  with  all  he  had  said, 
and  uttered  a  vehement  denunciation  of  the  proceedings. 

Nevertheless,  a  large  fund  (more  than  ^5000)  was 
raised,  Sir  John  Wodehouse  and  Lords  Buckingham- 
shire and  Townshend  each  subscribing  £500.  The 
Whigs  never  forgot  this  ;  eighteen  years  afterwards, 
when  Colonel  Wodehouse  was  standing  for  the  elec- 
tion of  1806,  a  huge  placard  was  posted  about  Norwich 
bearing  the  trenchant  inquiry — 

"who  subscribed  five  hundred  pounds  to  cut 
the  americans'  throats,  and  lost  that 

COLONY?" 

Coke,  however,  took  more  speedy  action  to  bring  the 
meeting  into  disrepute.  He  set  to  work  with  an  energy 
which  astonished  and  delighted  his  constituents.  By 
the  following  month,  on  February  17th,  1778,  he  pre- 
sented a  petition  from  them,  in  the  wording  of  which 
it  is  easy  to  recognise  his  influence,  if  not  his  actual 
penmanship.  It  does  not  slur  over  recent  happenings  ; 
it  is  dignified,  strong  and  sincere. 


1778]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  175 


After  praying  for  an  inquiry  into  the  "true  grounds 
and  conduct  of  this  unhappy  civil  war,  and  that  the 
best  means  be  found  for  bringing  it  to  a  speedy  termin- 
ation," it  points  out  sarcastically  the  "utmost  concern 
and  surprise"  with  which  the  petitioners  view  the 
"extraordinary  endeavours  used  in  this  kingdom  to  raise 
men  and  money  for  His  Majesty 's  service  by  free  gifts 
and  contributions ,  not  given  and  granted  in  a  Parlia- 
mentary course"  of  which  "unusual  and  strained 
efforts  not  only  is  the  legality  most  doubtful,  at  a 
time  when  Parliament  is  sitting,  etc.,  .  .  .  but  is  certainly 
calculated  to  convey  a  most  dangerous  impression  to 
neighbouring  countries  that  the  public  resources  of  the 
kingdom  are  in  an  exhausted  condition."  It  points  out 
how  the  petitioners  themselves  have  been  called  upon 
in  a  "manner  equally  alarming"  to  raise  men  and 
money  for  supporting  the  Constitutional  authority  of 
Great  Britain  ;  it  announces  : — 

"We  hope  and  trust  that  the  Constitutional 
authority  is  safe  and  well  supported  in  the  affections 
of  a  loyal  and  free  people  ;  we  know  of  no  attack  upon 
or  resistance  to  the  operation  of  the  Laws  of  this 
country  or  in  this  Kingdom — impaired  as  we  may  be 
in  Power  and  reputation  abroad — we  have,  however, 
peace  at  home  ;  but  in  the  thirteen  once  flourishing 
and  obedient  Colonies  of  Great  Britain,  His  Majesty 
has  no  authority  or  other  Government  to  be  supported. 
A  misrepresentation  of  our  unhappy  situation  would 
be  a  mockery  of  our  distress.  An  Empire  is  lost. 
A  great  Continent  in  arms  is  to  be  conquered  or 
abandoned." 

It  concludes  by  deploring  the  state  to  which  the 
country  is  reduced,  and  by  pointing  out  that  the 
petitioners  entertain  grave  doubts  of  the  "Wisdom, 


176  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1778 

Care  and  Prudence  of  those  who  conduct  His  Majesty's 
affairs,  and  by  whom  a  deserving  people  have  been 
greatly  injured,  deceived  and  endangered." 

On  December  4th  of  the  same  year  Coke  followed 
up  this  first  attack  by  bringing  forward  a  motion  in  the 
House  condemning  a  Manifesto  which  had  been  pub- 
lished by  the  Commissioners  for  restoring  peace  with 
America.  This  Manifesto  he  first  moved  might  be 
read  to  the  House,1  and  next  moved  : — 

"That  an  humble  address  be  presented  to  his 
Majesty,  to  express  to  his  Majesty  the  displeasure  of 
this  House  at  a  certain  Manifesto  and  Proclamation, 
dated  the  3rd  October,  1778  .  .  .  and  to  acquaint  his 
Majesty  with  the  sense  of  this  House  that  the  said 
Commissioners  had  no  authority  whatsoever,  under 
the  Act  of  Parliament,  in  virtue  of  which  they  were 
appointed  by  his  Majesty,  to  make  the  said  declara- 
tion .  .  .  nor  can  this  House  be  easily  brought  to 
believe,  that  the  said  Commissioners  derived  any 
such  authority  from  his  Majesty's  instructions." 

Whereupon  he  called  upon  the  King  to  disavow 
publicly  the  matter  set  forth  by  the  Manifesto,  which 
he  pronounced  to  be  inhuman,  unchristian,  derogatory 
to  the  Crown  and  debasing  to  the  people. 

This  was  a  strong  measure,  since,  if  approved  by  the 

1  The  Manifesto  contained  the  following-  threat  with  regard  to  the 
American  Alliance  with  France.  "The  policy  as  well  as  the  benevo- 
lence of  Great  Britain  have  thus  far  checked  the  extremes  of  war,  when 
they  tended  to  distress  a  people  still  considered  as  our  fellow  subjects, 
and  to  desolate  a  country  shortly  to  become  again  a  source  of  mutual 
advantage  ;  but  when  that  country  professes  the  unnatural  design,  not 
only  of  estranging  herself  from  us,  but  of  mortgaging  herself  and  her 
resources  to  our  enemies,  the  whole  contest  is  changed,  and  the  question 
is  how  far  Great  Britain  may,  by  every  means  in  her  power y  destroy ',  or 
render  useless,  a  connection  contrived  for  her  ruin,  and  for  the  aggran- 
dizement of  France,"  etc.  {Parliamentary  Debates,  Vol.  XIX,  p.  1389.) 


1778]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  177 

House,  it  practically  forced  the  King  to  eat  his  own 
words  and  to  revoke  the  sentiments  which  he  had 
announced  to  two  hemispheres  through  the  mouths  of 
his  Commissioners.  Coke  followed  up  this  daring 
motion  by  a  brief  speech,  in  which  he  denounced  the 
policy  of  the  King's  Ministers  as  being  "  inconsistent 
with  the  humanity  and  generous  courage  which  have 
always  distinguished  the  British  nation." 

His  speech  created  considerable  sensation.  A  heated 
debate  followed,  during  which  Lord  G.  Germaine 
having  asserted  that  the  King  was  his  own  Minister ', 
Fox  cleverly  took  it  up,  lamenting  that  his  Majesty  was 
his  own  unadvised  Minister,1  When  the  House  divided, 
Coke  was  one  of  the  Tellers.  The  motion  was  lost  by 
123  against  209. 

That  same  day  George  III,  writing  to  Lord  North, 
pointed  out,  no  doubt  with  unpleasant  anticipation, 
that  there  was  a  "  Long  Debate  expected  this  day  " 2  on 
Coke's  Motion.  It  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  the  light 
in  which  the  King  already  regarded  the  youngest  repre- 
sentative of  his  people,  since  Coke's  abhorrence  of  the 
unconstitutional  policy  of  George  III  was  only  equalled 
by  George  Ill's  annoyance  at  Coke's  opposition  to  it. 
For  a  man  like  Coke,  who  was  influenced  by  none  of  the 
considerations  which  carried  weight  with  the  majority 
of  men  ;  whom  it  was  impossible  to  conciliate  as  it  was 
impracticable  to  coerce ;  whose  integrity  was  above 
suspicion  ;  who  cared  nothing  for  place  or  patronage, 

1  Memorials  and  Correspondence  of  C.  J.  Fox,  edited  by  Lord  John 
Russell,  1853,  Vol.  I,  p.  203. 

2  The  originals  of  the  correspondence  of  George  III  were  given  to 
George  IV,  and  are  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Crown. 

I.— N 


178  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1778 

royal  favour,  or  popular  approbation  ;  who  was,  more- 
over, wealthy  enough  to  dispense  with  both,  and  to 
sustain,  unsupported,  the  position  of  first  Commoner 
in  the  Kingdom — was,  indubitably,  an  awkward  antago- 
nist to  the  undue  exercise  of  the  royal  prerogative. 
And  to  understand  the  antipathy  of  the  two  men,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  realise  their  respective  views  and 
characters.  George  III  believed  in  the  1  i  divine  right" 
of  Kings  ;  Coke  in  the  sacred  right  of  the  Constitution. 
George  viewed  the  Ministers  as  his  servants,  bound  to 
obey  his  supreme  will ;  Coke  viewed  them  as  the 
servants  of  the  State,  bound  to  uphold  the  liberty  of 
the  subject.  George  was  wedded  to  his  own  conclusions ; 
his  decision  once  formed,  it  became  unalterable.  Coke 
said  of  himself:  i  i  For  my  part,  I  am  governed  by 
experience  and  I  always  make  haste  to  discard  error 
when  I  find  it  out."1  George  with  all  the  self-assur- 
ance of  a  narrow  nature,  Coke  with  all  the  diffidence 
of  a  strong  nature,  were  opposed  upon  the  very  prin- 
ciples which,  to  each,  were  vital,  unalterable  and  the 
very  root  of  his  being. 

Nor  did  Coke  attempt  to  conceal  his  opinion  of  his 
Sovereign.  "  Mr.  Coke's  strong  Whig  politics  and 
decided  opposition  to  the  wars  with  America  and 
France,"  we  are  told,  "  rendered  him  peculiarly  ob- 
noxious to  George  III.  Mr.  Coke,  who  neither  courted 
the  favour  nor  feared  the  frowns  of  a  Court,  was  in  the 
habit  of  uttering  with  the  most  perfect  bluntness  his 
opinions  respecting  his  Majesty."2 

1  Dr.  Rig-by 's  Holkham  and  its  Agriculture,  1818. 

2  Pamphlet,  Thomas  Coke,  Earl  of  Leicester,  printed  by  Whiting", 
Beaufort  House,  Strand. 


1778]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  179 

In  yet  another  matter  were  the  King  and  his  first 
Commoner  radically  at  variance. 

Apart  from  his  activity  in  opposing  the  American 
War,  Coke,  from  his  first  entry  into  Parliament,  exerted 
himself  with  regard  to  economic  reform.  A  description 
of  the  House  written  in  1768  was  often  aptly  quoted  at 
this  period  : — 

That  dirty  House  no  mortal  yet  can  dense  ; 
Rub  as  you  please,  and  polish  as  you  can, 
Pensions  and  bribes  will  iron-mould  the  man. 

The  existence  of  preposterous  Pensions  was,  more 
especially  in  the  impoverished  state  of  the  country,  one 
of  the  crying  evils  of  the  day.  They  were  given  to 
royal  and  ministerial  favourites,  and  had  little  bear  - 
ing upon  the  services  which  the  recipients  had 
rendered  to  the  State.  Not  only  did  the  King  have 
recourse  to  bribery  to  obtain  his  ends,  and  the 
Ministers  by  the  same  means  ensure  the  success  of 
measures  which  they  brought  forward  in  the  House, 
but  the  actual  existence  of  Members  could  sometimes 
be  traced  to  the  same  system  exercised  by  private 
individuals.  Coke  used  to  relate1  a  characteristic  story 
of  how  George,  Lord  Orford,  who  died  in  1791,  once 
paid  his  gambling  debts. 

He  was  accustomed  to  play  high,  and  had  contracted 
a  debt  of  from  £3,000  to  £4,000  with  Macreath,  a 
waiter  at  White's  Club.2  On  a  dissolution  of  Parlia- 
ment he  asked  Macreath  if  he  would  like  to  be  in  the 
House.  Macreath  expressed  his  astonishment  at  the 
question,  but  at  last  said  he  should  certainly  like  it. 
"  Well,"  said  Lord  Orford,  "if  you  will  strike  off  what 

1  See  Recollections  of  Holkham,  1830.  Printed  anonymously  in  1842. 
Holkham  MSS. 

2  Macreath  afterwards  became  proprietor  of  Arthur's  Club. 


180  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1778 

I  owe  you,  I  will  elect  you  for  my  borough  of  Castle 
Rising,"  and  the  bargain  was  concluded. 

Now  for  many  years  this  borough  had  only  two 
electors — the  parson  of  the  parish  and  a  farmer,  who 
alternately  elected  each  other  to  the  Mayoralty,  and  who 
returned  two  members  to  Parliament  at  the  bidding  of 
the  two  patrons,  Lord  Orford  and  Lady  Suffolk.  On 
this  occasion,  when  the  Mayor  and  his  assistants  were 
assembled  upon  the  day  of  the  election,  they  found  to 
their  dismay  that  Lord  Orford  had  omitted  to  signify  to 
them  his  will  and  pleasure  as  to  whom  they  should 
elect.  In  the  midst  of  their  distress,  however,  there 
arrived  a  letter  from  their  lord  containing  only  three 
words — "  Elect  Macreath — Orford."  Unfortunately 
his  lordship  had  omitted  to  state  the  Christian  name  of 
the  member-elect ;  and  after  some  deliberation,  it  being 
absolutely  necessary  to  proceed  to  elect,  and  deciding 
that  "  John "  was  a  common  and  likely  name,  they 
elected  John  Macreath.  When  the  waiter  appeared 
before  the  Speaker  to  take  his  seat,  he  said  that  his 
name  was  Robert,  not  John,  and  the  election  was 
therefore  declared  void.  But  a  second  time  was  the 
Honourable  Robert  Macreath,  waiter  at  White's, 
returned  to  represent  the  people  of  England  in  Parlia- 
ment, by  the  free  and  independent  Electors  of  Castle 
Rising;  he  was  knighted  and  sat  in  Parliament  a 
considerable  time,  probably  with  as  much  usefulness 
and  honour  to  his  country  as  many  of  those  men  by 
whom  he  was  surrounded.1 

1  Horace  Walpole  also  mentions  this  story;  see  Journal  of  Lady  Mary 
Coke,  privately  printed,  Vol.  IV,  p.  416  ;  and  Walpole  Letters,  Vol.  VI, 
pp.  1 19-152.  But  Walpole  erroneously  states  that  the  election  caused 
so  much  scandal  that  Bob  Macreath  voluntarily  resigned  his  seat. 


1778]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  181 

In  short,  as  was  remarked  in  the  House  nearly  half  a 
century  later  with  regard  to  a  petition  presented  by 
Coke  against  this  same  evil:  "  It  was  notorious  that 
Seats  in  that  House  were  bought  and  sold  like  cattle  in 
Smithfield  market."1  Norfolk  and  Derbyshire  papers, 
however,  leave  us  in  no  doubt  with  regard  to  Coke's 
attitude  towards  such  practices.  He,  we  are  told, 
"  ever  showed  himself  the  steadfast  friend  of  freedom 
and  of  popular  rights";  was  ever  the  "  independent, 
bold,  uncompromising  enemy  of  every  species  of  aggres- 
sion upon  the  liberty  or  the  property  of  his  country- 
men." "  Both  in  and  out  of  Parliament  he  ever  advo- 
cated a  virtuous  system  of  Government, — he  denounced 
alike  the  principles  and  the  practice  of  corruption, 
whether  discoverable  in  a  list  of  pensions,  an  enormous 
Military  establishment,  in  the  erection  of  a  palace  or 
the  contests  of  a  county  court — in  a  word,  his  name  is 
to  be  found  in  every  controversy,  and  in  every  division 
which  involved  the  Rights  of  the  people,  on  their  side  "2 
"  Nor  can  it  be  found  that  any  enticements  however 
strong,  or  from  what  quarter  they  emanated,  could 
induce  him  to  give  a  single  vote  that  tended  in  the 
smallest  degree  to  take  the  money  out  of  the  pockets  of 
the  people.3  "  At  all  times  he  was  a  strenuous  advocate 
of  economy,  and  raised  his  voice  in  Parliament  against 
the  extravagance  of  the  Government,  from  which  he 
anticipated  the  utmost  danger  to  the  country."4 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  New  Series,  Vol.  VII,  p.  779. 

2  Norwich  Mercury,  July  9th,  1842. 

3  Memoir  of  Thomas  William  Coke  in  A  Narrative  of  the  proceed- 
ings, etc.,  connected  with  the  dinner  of  T.  W.  Coke,  Esq.,  pub.  Norwich, 
1833. 

4  Derby  and  Chesterfield  Reporter,  July  7th,  1842. 


m  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1778 

Undoubtedly,  he  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  telling 
Ministers  what  he  thought  of  their  system,  and  that 
with  a  frankness  which  they  must  have  found  discon- 
certing. "  I  am  determined  to  oppose  corruption  what- 
ever form  it  may  assume!"  he  announced,  "and  its 
defence  I  leave  to  those  who  thrive  by  it.  When  I 
look  to  the  situation  of  the  Hon.  Gentlemen  on  the  other 
side  of  the  House,  I  no  longer  pay  attention  to  what 
they  say  on  this  subject!"1  "Such  is  the  abject  and 
degraded  condition  of  their  adherents  in  the  House," 
he  said  angrily  on  another  occasion,  "that  if  ministers 
were  to  hold  up  a  hat  in  the  House  and  declare  it  to  be 
a  Green  Bag,  up  would  come  a  procession  of  their 
placemen,  and  solemnly  vote  that  it  was  a  Bag  and  not 
a  Hat !  "2  And  he  strongly  advocated  triennial  Parlia- 
ments, for  he  said  that,  when  the  time  approached  for 
Ministers  to  meet  their  constituents,  their  behaviour 
underwent  a  considerable  revision  ;  at  other  times  he  well 
knew  the  "profligate  manner  in  which  the  public 
money  was  squandered,"  and  "he  would  go  to  the 
full  length  of  asserting  that  this  was  a  corrupt  House 
from  which  no  good  could  be  expected  !  "3 

For  many  years  both  Fox  and  Coke  continued  to 
point  out  how  the  tendency  of  the  prevailing  system  of 
government  was  to  reduce  the  entire  country  to  a  state 
of  poverty.  The  contrast  between  the  condition  of  the 
masses  prior  to  a  long  period  of  Tory  administration, 
with  its  corruption  at  home  and  its  wars  abroad,  com- 
pared with  the  condition  of  those  same  classes  subse- 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  Vol.  XL,  p.  493. 

2  Speech  at  the  dinner  held  on  the  anniversary  of  the  birthday  of 
Charles  James  Fox,  1819. 

3  Parliamentary  Debates,  Vol.  XL,  p.  12 10. 


1778]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  183 

quent  to  that  period,  was  a  subject  which  Coke  in  later 
years  could  scarcely  bear  to  contemplate.  On  his 
retirement  from  public  life,  looking  back  over  a  long 
Parliamentary  career,  and  being  then  in  a  position — 
such  as  few  men  could  boast — to  gauge  that  result  with 
accuracy,  he  remarked,  "I  am  afraid  there  are  few 
present  who  will  recall  a  period  so  long  past,  and  I  will 
merely  show  you  the  difference  between  the  times  they 
were  then  and  the  present  times.  You  will  scarcely 
believe  that,  when  I  entered  Parliament  in  the  year 
1776,  this  was  an  untaxed  country — there  was  then  no 
poor's  rate  ;  every  man  was  able  to  brew  his  own  beer, 
and  every  family  to  bake  its  own  bread.  They  had  all 
these  conveniences  in  their  own  homes.  .  .  .  But 
Mr.  Fox  foretold  the  dreadful  state  to  which  the  country 
would  be  reduced.  .  .  .  That  great  statesman — for  he 
was  the  greatest  that  ever  lived — foresaw  and  foretold 
this  great  evil."  One  day,  so  Coke  related,  during  the 
early  days  of  their  acquaintance,  Fox  remarked  to  him: 
"  My  dear  Coke,  if  you  live  long  enough,  you  will  see 
this  country  reduced  to  a  state  of  dire  poverty  by  the 
system  which  the  Tories  are  pursuing  "  ;  and  there- 
upon Fox  proceeded  to  delineate  with  unerring  insight 
both  the  growth  of  that  system  and  its  result. 

How  that  prediction  was  fulfilled  Coke  was  fated  to 
observe,  year  by  year,  with  bitter  recognition  ;  but 
eagerly,  during  those  first  days  of  his  Parliamentary  life, 
he  fought  the  evil  which,  throughout  his  career,  he 
never  ceased  to  condemn.1 

1  That  Coke  was  exonerated  from  all  participation  in  the  Ministerial 
loaves  and  fishes  seems  to  have  been  apparent  even  to  the  somewhat 
stolid  bucolic  intelligence,  for  the  verses  of  Parkinson,  who  constituted 
himself  a  Poet  Laureate  to  the  farmers,  drovers  and  publicans  of  the 


1 84  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1778 
In  the  year  of  his  first  election,  he  presented  a  Petition 
for  the  Abolition  of  Unjust  Pensions.  Later  he  attacked 
the  pension  of  Colonel  Barre.  uIn  a  crowded  house, 
Lord  Rosebery  remarks,  "  Coke  of  Norfolk  called 
attention  to  the  pension  of  Barre.  To  Barre  had  been 
given  a  pension  of  £3200  a  year,  and  though  this 
enormous  sum  would  not,  after  the  payment  of  taxes 
and  fees  net,  be  above  .£2100,  enough  remained  to  be, 
even  in  those  days,  a  fair  subject  for  Parliamentary 
inquiry.  " 1  In  1780,  when  Coke  had  been  barely  four 
years  in  Parliament,  we  find  him  writing  to  Sir  Martin 
ffolkes  and  other  gentlemen  in  Norfolk  to  beg  their 
assistance  in  promoting  a  petition  to  Parliament  to 
reduce  public  expenditure  ;  while  in  connection  with 
his  letters  on  this  occasion  one  fact  must  be  remarked. 
Coke  was  constantly,  both  in  early  and  later  life,  ac- 
cused of  being  before  everything  a  party  man.  At  the 
close  of  his  public  career  his  enemies  maintained  that 
for  fifty  years  he  had  always  voted  with  his  party  what- 
ever the  measure  brought  forward,  and  that  he  illus- 
trated the  Whig  principle  of  "The  Party  everything, 
the  country  little  or  nothing  unless  seen  through  Party 
Eyes."    That  this  accusation  was  inaccurate  is  proved 

Norwich  Cattle  Market,  and  gave  voice  to  their  opinions,  prove  that,  on 
this  point  at  least,  Coke  did  not  encounter  much  misapprehension.  In  a 
doggerel  entitled,  The  Independent  Statesman  ;  a  respectful  tribute  to 
T.  W.  Coke,  Esq. ,  Parkinson  exclaims  with  more  fervour  than  poetry — 

"  Can  the  Ministers  say  they  e'er  found  you  willing, 
To  share  from  the  loaves  and  the  fishes  a  shilling? 
I  only  this  circumstance  slightly  just  name, 
And  ask  many  Statesmen  if  they  can  do  the  same? 
Was  they  daily  to  act  as  Statesmen  like  you, 
Our  burthens  and  troubles  we  soon  should  subdue  !  " 

etc.,  etc. 

1  Life  of  Pitt,  by  the  Right  Hon.  the  Earl  of  Rosebery,  1891 ,  ch.  II.  p.  35. 


1778]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  185 

by  any  study  of  his  Parliamentary  speeches.  Coke 
certainly  was  a  strong  believer  in  party  politics,  and 
never  hesitated  to  call  himself  a  party  politician  ;  after 
he  had  been  for  forty  years  in  Parliament  he  stated 
that  "  he  had  for  forty  years  uniformly  maintained 
those  principles  which  he  should  continue  to  maintain 
till  his  death— principles  of  decided  hostility  to  those  on 
which,  for  that  period,  the  government  of  the  country  had 
been  conducted  "  1  But  the  principles  were  everything, 
and  the  party  was  to  be  upheld  only  as  the  ostensible 
promoter  of  those  principles.  Again  and  again  in  the 
course  of  his  life  we  find  him  urging  men  to  fling  aside 
their  narrow  party  prejudices  and  to  think  only  of 
their  country ;  when  the  Tory  Government  advocated 
measures  he  approved,  he  was  ready  to  vote  with  them ; 
and  his  views  are  seldom  more  clearly  illustrated  than 
in  his  correspondence  with  regard  to  this  petition  of 
1780,  while  he  was  still  a  novice  in  the  political  world. 

"I  need  not  observe,"  he  emphasises  to  Sir  Martin 
ffolkes,  "that  Party  has  little  to  do  with  this  business  ; 
but  that  the  obtaining  a  redress  of  grievances  is  uni- 
versally and  severely  felt  must  be  equally  wished  by  all 
Parties  except  the  few  Individuals  who  are  preying  upon 
the  vitals  of  their  country." 

This  petition,  when  formulated,  prayed  the  House  of 
Commons  "to  guard  against  all  unnecessary  expendi- 
ture, to  abolish  insecure  places  and  pensions  and  to 
resist  the  increasing  influence  of  the  Crown."  Against 
it,  however,  a  strong  protest  was  raised.  Coke's  oppo- 
nents declared  that  it  was  not  the  genuine  petition  of 
the  county  of  Norfolk,  and  tried  to  quash  it.  Coke 

1  Parliamentary  Debates  (Hansard),  Vol.  XXXV,  p.  782. 


1 86  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1778 
held  his  ground  determinedly ;  he  proved  that  the 
petition  was  bona  fide;  it  was  received  and  was  ordered 
to  be  put  upon  the  table  of  the  House  ;  but  no  result 
came  of  it,  and  his  non-success  in  what  he  felt  to  be 
such  an  urgent  reform  greatly  disheartened  him.  "I  am 
not  fond  of  making  Motions,"  he  said  subsequently; 
"the  ill-success  of  my  Motion  for  the  abolition  of  an 
unjustifiable  Pension  has  put  me  out  of  conceit  with 
Motions.  " 1 

Yet  his  energy  does  not  seem  to  have  abated.  Glanc- 
ing over  the  next  few  years,  his  name  appears  con- 
stantly in  the  Debates  of  the  period  ;  and  his  sugges- 
tions were  terse,  practical  and  dictated  by  common 
sense.  He  had  a  distinct  horror  of  needless  palaver ; 
brief  and  businesslike  himself,  he  required  others  to 
be  so.  Once  we  read  how,  when  Chancellor  Pitt 
moved  a  trifling  financial  reform,  Sir  Joseph  Mawbey, 
who  was  considered  the  bore  of  the  House,  arose, 
"and  was  entering  upon  an  ample  discussion  of  the 
present  state  of  the  Nation's  finances  and  negotiations 
for  peace,  when  he  was  called  to  order  by  Mr.  Coke  of 
Norfolk."  Coke  curtly  pointed  out  to  the  too  loquacious 
Member  "how  fond  some  gentlemen  were  of  debating 
in  that  House,  and  how  little  the  public  profited  by  it. 
He  considered  the  dignity  of  the  House  suffered 
by  it"2: — a  reflection  which,  it  is  to  be  regretted,  is 
not  more  often  brought  under  the  consideration  of 
Members  of  a  later  date.  On  that  occasion,  Sir 
Joseph  Mawbey,  called  to  order  by  the  youngest 
Member  of  the  House,  lapsed  into  discomfited  silence, 

1  Gentleman  s  Magazine,  December  22nd,  1780. 

2  Ibid.  (1783),  December  13th,  p.  107. 


1778]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  187 

to  the  great  joy  of  his  colleagues  ;  and  the  motion  was 
carried  without  further  opposition. 

On  another  occasion  we  read  that,  when  making 
some  very  practical  suggestions,  Coke  met  with  less 
success.  It  was  when  Alderman  Newnham  had  moved 
for  a  repeal]  of  the  receipt  tax  that  Coke,  in  support 
of  a  former  opinion  which  held  "  that  no  person  ought 
to  move  the  repeal  of  a  tax  without  having  another  to 
propose,"  suggested  three  new  taxes,  which  he  calcu- 
lated would  represent  £530,000  a  year  to  the  revenue. 
One  was  a  tax  upon  dogs  ;  another  was  to  be  put  upon 
a  species  of  property  which  "had  never  yet  been 
taxed,  and  that  was  pews  in  churches,  upon  every  one 
of  which,  if  private  property,  he  proposed  a  minimum 
tax  of  twenty  shillings,  and  upon  large  pews  for 
corporate  bodies  twenty  pounds,  and  on  every  bishop's 
twenty  pounds  I"  Further,  he  suggested  "  that  tomb- 
stones should  be  taxed  the  sum  of  twenty  shillings 
each,  and  for  burying  in  churches  a  licence  of  ten 
pounds  should  be  required " ;  but  this  last,  he  ex- 
plained, "  he  was  far  from  desiring  to  see  a  productive 
tax,  as  he  considered  the  custom  insanitary  and  objec- 
tionable. He  had  known  a  whole  parish  kept  from 
church  a  month  on  account  of  a  person  being  buried 
in  it  who  had  died  from  small-pox." 

These  suggestions  were  sufficiently  unexpected  to 
cause  amusement.  Sheridan  wittily  opposed  the  idea 
of  a  tax  upon  tombstones.  "The  receipt  tax,"  he 
allowed,  "had  been  objected  to  as  troublesome  and 
vexatious  ;  that  on  tombstones  was  certainly  not  liable 
to  the  same  objection,  as  the  people  out  of  whose 
fortunes  it  would  be  levied  would  know  nothing  of  the 


1 88  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1778 
matter,  since  they  must  be  dead  before  there  could  be 
any  call  for  the  tax.  But  who  knows,"  he  added, 
' 'that  it  might  not  be  rendered  unpopular  by  being 
represented  as  a  receipt  tax  upon  persons  who,  after 
having  paid  the  debt  of  nature,  had  the  receipt  engraved 
upon  their  tombs  !  " 1 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  that,  although  not  treated 
seriously  at  the  time,  one  at  least  of  Coke's  sugges- 
tions, the  tax  on  dogs,  was  afterwards  adopted  by  Pitt. 
Possibly  Coke  was  to  be  congratulated  upon  his  failure 
to  introduce  this  measure,  for  Mr.  Dent,2  who  ulti- 
mately carried  it,  was  ever  afterwards  known  as  "  The 
Dog  "  or  ' '  Dog  Dent, "  and  was  incessantly  the  unhappy 
recipient  of  large  hampers  garnished  with  hares'  legs, 
pheasants'  tails,  grouse  and  partridge  wings,  etc.,  but 
filled  with  dead  dogs. 

Amongst  other  measures  which  Coke  early  brought 
forward  was  a  strong  bill  against  night  poaching  ;  also 
a  characteristic  bill  for  utilising  the  waste  lands  and 
commons  of  Norfolk,  and  a  bill  to  regulate  the  votes 
of  honorary  freemen  ;  he  attacked  the  carelessness  of 
the  Admiralty  in  not  affording  proper  protection  to 
trade  upon  the  coast  of  the  kingdom  ;3  he  was,  we  learn, 
the  only  member  who  offered  active  opposition  to 
General  Conway's4  bill  for  arming  the  people  ;5  and  he 
uttered  a  strong  protest  against  the  ceding  of  Gibraltar  ; 
while  upon  all  agricultural  subjects  he  was  particu- 

1  Gentleman' s  Magazine,  December  4th,  1783. 

2  Mr.  Dent,  Member  for  Lancaster  ;  of  a  Westmoreland  family  and 
partner  in  Child's  Bank. 

3  February  21st,  1780. 

4  General  Conway,  Secretary  of  State,  1765. 

5  June  17th,  1783. 


1778]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  189 

larly  active.  This  is  anticipating  the  march  of  events, 
but  it  suffices  to  show  that  at  no  time  was  he  contented 
to  be  a  mere  spectator  of  other  men's  labours.  Alert, 
energetic  and  keenly  in  earnest  as  he  appears,  it  is 
difficult  to  realise  that  his  whole  inclination  was  not  in 
the  work  before  him. 

Yet  whatever  reforms  occupied  his  attention  at  the 
commencement  of  his  career,  the  paramount  question  of 
the  injustice  done  to  the  American  States  was  never 
long  absent  from  his  thoughts  nor  from  his  speech. 
He  struggled  unwearyingly  to  promote  a  better  under- 
standing of  the  grievances  of  the  American  Colonists, 
and  to  show  that  the  cause  of  America  was  also  the 
cause  of  England  herself.  He  was  far  from  desiring  a 
separation  between  England  and  her  Colonies  ;  yet  he 
quickly  realised  that  if  the  schism  were  irrevocable,  it 
was  better  to  agree  to  the  independence  of  the  States 
and  to  retain  them  as  willing  allies  than  as  conquered 
enemies.  But  so  long  as  the  English  arms  were 
successful,  so  long  men  refused  to  believe  that  the  cause 
in  which  they  were  succeeding  was  an  unjust  one.  It 
was  not  until  England  had  been  impoverished  by  a  long 
and  bloody  warfare,  until  Washington  had  turned  the 
scale  of  victory  against  us,  that  the  nation  at  large 
began  to  question  whether  the  policy  of  George  III  and 
his  Ministers  had  not,  after  all,  been  as  mistaken  as  it 
was  unjustifiable. 

Meanwhile  Coke,  out  of  his  very  loyalty  to  what  he 
held  to  be  the  true  principles  of  the  British  Constitution, 
could  honour  the  struggle  of  those  who,  he  protested, 
interpreted  such  principles  more  accurately  than  did  the 
obstinate  King  and  his  servile  Ministers.    In  later 


igo  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1778 
years  he  seldom  cared  to  refer  to  this  period  of  our 
national  history,  but  once  at  a  Holkham  sheep-shearing 
he  told  the  company  a  curious  fact. 

"  Every  night  during  the  American  war,"  he  said, 
"did  I  drink  the  health  of  General  Washington  as 
the  greatest  man  on  earth."1 

And  this  admiration,  as  Lafayette  informed  him, 
Washington  throughout  his  life  cordially  reciprocated.2 

Only  two  more  events  remain  to  record  with  regard 
to  Coke's  first  Parliament.  In  this  year  of  1778,  after 
little  more  than  eighteen  months  of  public  life,  he  was, 
for  the  second  time,  offered  a  peerage — on  this  occasion 
by  Lord  North — and  again  he  declined  it  decisively, 
little  dreaming  that  before  six  years  were  over  he 
would,  for  the  third  time,  reject  a  like  offer,  under 
circumstances  yet  more  remarkable. 

In  the  following  year,  1779,  we  have  his  own 
authority  for  the  statement  that  he  first  voted  with  Fox, 
on  March  29th,  for  Catholic  Emancipation  ;  and  now, 
on  this  occasion,  he  little  imagined  that  half  a  century 
would  elapse  before,  on  the  actual  anniversary  of  that 
date,  Catholic  Emancipation  would  be  carried  in  the 
Commons,  March  29th,  1829.3 

1  A  Report  of  the  Transactions  at  the  Holkham  Sheep-shearing,  1821. 
By  R.  N.  Bacon.  Printed  by  Burks  and  Kinnerbrook,  and  sold  by 
J.  Harding,  St.  James's  Street. 

2  See  post,  Vol.  II,  p.  377. 

3  Obituary  Notice,  Norwich  Mercury,  July  9th,  1842.  Also  Coke's 
speech  at  Thetford,  July,  1830. 


1776] 


CHAPTER  IX 

DICK  MERRYFELLOW 
i 776- i 780 

sEtat  22-26 

IN  1780  occurred  a  dissolution,  and  Coke  again 
offered  himself  for  the  representation  of  Norfolk. 
This  was  the  first  General  Election  in  which  he 
had  taken  part  since  his  entry  into  Parliament. 
While  canvassing,  an  influence  was  brought  to  bear 
against  him  which  might  have  seriously  affected  his 
success ;  and  the  story  of  his  conduct  in  connection 
with  which  furnishes  further  proof  of  the  quiet  deter- 
mination of  character  for  which  he  early  became 
known. 

When  new  to  the  management  of  his  estate,  Coke  had 
had  a  curious  and  disagreeable  experience.  Richard 
Gardiner,  alias  Dick  Merryfellow,  who  had  supported 
him  in  his  first  election  and  who  was  said  to  have 
written  the  speech  on  that  occasion,  already  quoted, 
determined  to  turn  that  fact  to  his  own  advantage.  He 
was  a  man  whose  life  had  been  full  of  vicissitudes,  and 
at  the  age  of  fifty-three  he  found  himself  with  a  wife 
and  family  in  a  state  of  pecuniary  embarrassment.  He 
accordingly  wrote  to  Coke  and  offered  himself  as  what 
he  termed  Auditor-General  for  the  Holkham  estates. 

Coke  was  at  first  unwilling  to  consent;  but  Gardiner's 

191 


192  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776 

importunities  and  his  own  good-nature  overruled  his 
better  judgment.  Partly  out  of  gratitude  for  the  man's 
services  at  the  time  of  his  first  election,  for  which  he 
felt  himself  under  an  obligation,  and  partly  out  of  a 
desire  to  help  any  one  of  straitened  means,  he  yielded  ; 
and  just  three  and  a  half  months  after  his  accession  to 
his  property,  on  August  1st,  1776,  he  delivered  the 
appointment  under  his  hand  and  seal  making  Richard 
Gardiner  Auditor-General  of  all  his  estates  in  Norfolk 
at  a  salary  of  £600  a  year.  The  office  was  practically 
a  sinecure  ;  though  Coke  may  have  thought  that  the 
experience  and  advice  of  a  man  of  Gardiner's  age  and 
ability  might  be  a  help  in  his  newly-acquired  duties. 

He  was  soon  to  find  out  his  mistake.  Gardiner, 
seeing  himself  in  possession  of  a  comfortable  salary, 
and  in  a  post  which  he  believed  to  be  secured  to  him  for 
life,  at  once,  as  an  old  account  says,  "  assumed  the 
character  and  dignity  of  a  Dictator-General."  Having 
got  his  way  without  difficulty  in  the  first  instance, 
"unfortunately  for  himself  he  thought  Mr.  Coke's 
youth  and  inexperience  would  correspond  with  Shake- 
speare's dupe  of  fortune — 

'  Who  will  as  tenderly  be  led  by  the  nose 
As  asses  are  .  .  .  '  " 1 

In  short,  despite  his  natural  shrewdness,  Gardiner  hope- 
lessly miscalculated  the  temperament  of  the  man  with 
whom  he  had  to  deal.  Coke's  amiability  at  first  ap- 
pears to  have  blinded  friends  and  foes  alike  to  his  real 

1  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Writings  {prose  and  verse)  of  R-ch — d 
G-rd-n-r,  Esgre,  alias  Dick  Merryfellow.  Of  serious  and  facetious 
memory.  Printed  by  G.  Kearsley,  Fleet  Street,  London,  and  M.  Booth, 
Norwich,  January  ist,  1782. 


1776]  DICK  MERRYFELLOW  193 

character ;  but,  however  young  and  inexperienced,  he 
was  not  of  a  nature  to  submit  tamely  to  being  made  a 
dupe  by  any  one.  At  this  period,  his  Parliamentary 
duties  enforced  his  absence  from  Holkham  during 
each  session  ;  yet  he  soon  discovered  that  the  estate 
was  not  being  managed  as  he  wished.  On  No- 
vember 15th  he  left  Holkham  for  town,  and  did  not 
return  till  early  the  following  January,  when  he  hastened 
back  for  the  audit ;  and  then  an  incident  occurred  which 
convinced  him  that  Gardiner  was  not  making  a  proper 
use  of  the  power  with  which  he  had  invested  him.1 

Amongst  other  reports  made  by  Gardiner  to  Mr. 
Coke  was  one  to  the  effect  that  a  certain  forester,  known 
to  tradition  as  "  Owd  Tom,"  had  better  be  dismissed. 
He  was,  so  Gardiner  stated,  a  lazy,  useless  old  man, 
who  did  not  work  honestly  at  his  "  grub-stubbing " 
(weeding),  and  was  best  got  rid  of.  Coke  replied 
casually  that  he  would  decide  the  matter  another  day. 
A  few  days  later  there  arrived  among  the  foresters  a 
new  hand  who  seemed  a  hard-working,  kindly  fellow, 
and  who  upon  being  asked  by  one  of  his  mates  to  lend 
his  help  with  a  peculiarly  stubborn  root,  did  so  with  a 
heartiness  and  skill  which  won  him  golden  opinions. 
He  was,  accordingly,  received  by  them  with  rough  cor- 
diality and  made  free  of  their  society  ;  he  worked  steadily 
and  uncomplainingly  with  them,  and  drank  his  half-pint 
of  beer  or  ate  his  crust  of  bread  and  cheese  affably 

1  The  story  of  this  incident  is  so  universally  preserved  about  the 
neighbourhood  of  Ringstead  in  Norfolk  that  no  doubt  can  be  entertained 
respecting  its  authenticity.  Tradition  indeed  assigns  it  to  a  date  when 
Coke  was  a  far  older  man  and  in  the  height  of  his  fame ;  but  as  no 
other  instance  is  on  record  of  the  abrupt  dismissal  of  his  bailiff  or  agent, 
the  inference  appears  conclusive. 


194  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i777 
with  the  rest.  As  he  worked  amongst  them,  however, 
he  made  special  friends  with  "  Owd  Tom,"  reported  a 
sluggard  and  idler,  and  who,  so  far  from  being  what 
Gardiner  had  represented  him,  toiled  at  his  weeding 
with  untiring  energy  and  industry.  At  the  end  of  two 
days  the  new  mate  disappeared,  and  the  following  pay- 
day at  Holkham  "  Owd  Tom,"  to  his  extreme  surprise, 
was  presented  by  the  Squire  with  a  handsome  rise  in 
wages,  which,  later,  was  supplemented  with  a  comfort- 
able pension.  Coke,  like  Haroun  al-Raschid,  had  gone 
amongst  his  labourers  disguised,  rather  than  do  a 
possible  act  of  injustice  to  one  old  man  ;  and  the  follow- 
ing February  he  dismissed  Gardiner  with  a  gratuity 
of  £200,  just  six  months  after  the  date  of  his  appoint- 
ment. 

Gardiner  was  dumbfounded.  He  was  a  man  of 
prodigious  vanity,  and  the  public  blow  to  his  self- 
esteem  was  intolerable  to  him.  For  some  reason,  feel- 
ing convinced  that  Sir  Harbord  Harbord  had  advised 
Coke  to  take  this  step,  he  wrote  to  the  former  accusing 
him  of  having  prompted  his  dismissal.  Sir  Harbord 
Harbord  answered  the  letter  denying  that  he  had  in- 
fluenced Mr.  Coke  in  any  way ;  though  he  admitted 
that  he  did  concur  with  the  impropriety  of  vesting  so 
extraordinary  a  power  in  the  hands  of  any  man.  This 
letter  Gardiner  never  forgave.  He,  however,  made  one 
last  appeal  to  Coke.  On  July  3rd,  1777,  he  wrote : 
"  If  you  do  not  mean,  Sir,  to  persevere  in  your  appoint- 
ment of  me  as  Auditor,  at  least  for  some  time,  you  have 
done  me  the  most  irreparable  injury  "  ;  and  he  begged 
that  Coke  would,  at  least,  afford  him  some  explanation 
— "  that  I  may  retire  in  such  a  manner  as  to  do  honour 


1777]  DICK  MERRYFELLOW  195 

to  yourself  and  me,  and  that  you  may  at  least  leave  me 
where  you  found  me." 

Coke  good-naturedly  consented  to  an  interview,  and 
Gardiner  in  that  interview  accepted  the  assurance  that 
Sir  Harbord  had  in  no  way  been  implicated  in  his 
dismissal,  finally  declaring,  upon  his  honour,  that  he 
was  satisfied  with  Coke's  assertion  to  the  contrary. 

None  the  less,  he  promptly  published  a  scurrilous 
letter  of  ninety-three  pages  against  Sir  Harbord,  which 
he  sold  for  eighteenpence,  in  which  he  recapitulated  his 
accusation  with  full  details. 

Coke  thereupon  wrote  as  follows  : — 

U  g£f  "  HOLKHAM,  August  6th,  1777. 

"  It  is  with  very  great  concern  that  I  find 
myself  obliged  to  write  to  you  on  such  a  subject ;  but 
after  the  very  inconsiderate  step  you  took  at  Norwich 
in  regard  to  my  friend,  Sir  Harbord,  subsequent  to 
the  explanation  we  had  on  this  affair  at  Holkham, 
with  which  you  seemed  so  well  satisfied,  you  cannot 
be  surprised  that  I  think  it  incumbent  on  me  to 
decline  receiving  you  any  more  into  my  house,  and 
demanding  back  the  appointment  of  Auditor-General, 
which  I  desire  you  will  return  by  the  bearer. 

"  I  am,  Sir, 

"  Your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

"  Thomas  William  Coke." 

Gardiner  was  incensed.  "  You  must  excuse  me,  Sir, 
in  not  returning  your  appointment,"  he  answered, 
"though  I  will  never  act  under  it"  And  from  that 
time  forward,  not  only  did  he  look  upon  Coke  as  his 
inveterate  foe,  to  be  bespattered  with  every  sort  of  abuse 
and  calumny,  but  everybody  connected  with  Holkham 


196  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i777 


came  within  the  scope  of  his  biting  malice.  Witty 
and  unscrupulous,  his  vindictive  pen  was  a  power  to  be 
feared  ;  for  weeks  in  the  public  press  Coke  was  sub- 
jected to  every  species  of  ridicule  and  vituperation,  and 
no  effort  was  omitted  to  draw  him  into  an  undignified 
controversy.  He  was  called  "  Simple  Simpkin "  or 
"  Squire  Shallow,"  the  "  Derbyshire  block-spitter," 
the  ' '  Prince  of  Pines"  or  ' '  Prince  Pinery" — on  ac- 
count of  his  plantations — and  many  other  names,  but 
principally  "  Young  Sir  Growl,"  in  contradistinction  to 
his  father,  who  was  referred  to  as  the  deceased  i '  Old 
Sir  Growl." 

From  March  21st  till  May  2nd  Coke  maintained  a 
total  and  disappointing  silence.  Then,  finding  it  ab- 
solutely incumbent  upon  him  to  contradict  the  imputa- 
tion cast  upon  Sir  Harbord,  he  at  last  broke  silence  in 
the  following  dignified  notice  : — 

TO   THE  PUBLIC 

Having  waited  to  see  the  utmost  efforts  of  Mr.  Gardiner's 
malice  and  abilities  for  abuse,  at  length  I  think  it  incum- 
bent upon  me  to  assure  the  public  that  all  his  assertions  of 
Sir  Harbord  Harbord's  having  done  him  disservice  with 
me  are  absolutely  False  :  and  that  all  the  discountenance 
I  shewed  him  during  his  continuance  in  my  service  and  my 
final  dismissal  of  him  from  that  service  arose  entirely  with- 
out the  advice,  suggestion,  or  even  the  knowledge  of  Sir 
Harbord  Harbord,  or  any  of  the  gentlemen  to  whom  it  is 
imputed  in  his  pamphlet. 

That  his  conduct,  whilst  in  my  service,  being  disapproved 
by  me,  I  therefore  exercised  that  right,  which  I  apprehend 
every  gentleman  has,  and  dismissed  him  with  a  gratuity  of 
^200 — which  he  has  not  taken  the  least  notice  of  in  this 
publication.  The  public  bustle  he  made  at  Norwich  in  re- 
lation to  Sir  Harbord  Harbord  after  the  assurance  I  had 
given  that  Sir  H.  H.  had  never  done  him  any  disservice 
with  me,  I  considered  as  implying  his  disbelief  of  my  as- 


1780]  DICK  MERRYFELLOW 


197 


surances,  and  consequently,  as  such,  an  affront  to  myself, 
that  I  thought  it  necessary  to  forbid  him  my  house.  Some 
time  afterwards,  finding  he  did  not  think  the  gratuity 
adequate  to  his  services,  I  proposed  to  refer  the  point  to 
arbitration,  which  he  at  first  refused,  though  I  am  informed 
he  has  since  inclined  to — but  as  he  now  by  his  Calumnies 
and  Falsehoods  has  forfeited  every  claim  to  my  favor,  I 
shall  leave  him  to  try  what  the  law  will  further  give  him. 

Thomas  William  Coke. 

To  this  letter  Gardiner  wrote  a  furious  answer,  de- 
claring that  Coke  did  not  possess  a  hundred  pounds 
with  which  to  pay  his  labourers  and  the  family  ex- 
penses ;  but  the  papers  refused  to  publish  it,  whereupon 
he  had  it  printed  as  a  handbill  at  his  own  cost,  together 
with  a  notice  accusing  Coke  of  having  interfered  in  a 
cowardly  manner  with  the  liberty  of  the  Press.  The 
printers,  however,  in  justice  to  Coke,  flatly  denied  that 
their  action  in  the  matter  had  been  in  any  way  in- 
fluenced by  him,  and  there  the  subject  temporarily 
dropped,  save  for  two  "  explanatory  pamphlets"  issued 
by  the  irrepressible  Dick  Merryfellow,  one  of  which 
was  headed : — 

There  are,  I  scarce  can  think  it,  but  am  told, 
There  are,  to  whom  my  satire  seems  too  bold  : 
Scarce  to  Sir  H-rb-rd  complaisant  enough, 
And  something  said  of  "  Simpkin  "  much  too  rough  ! 

When  the  election  of  1780  came  on,  however,  Dick 
Merryfellow  saw  his  chance.  He  set  to  work  with  all 
the  energy  and  wit  of  which  he  was  capable  to  prevent 
Coke's  being  re-elected.  Every  scurrilous  story,  every 
disparaging  innuendo  which  he  could  rake  up  to  in- 
fluence popular  opinion  against  his  enemy  was  dili- 
gently applied  to  the  purpose.     His  satires  were 


198  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1780 

brilliant  and  scathing,  his  perseverance  indefatigable. 
He  hit  Coke  at  every  point  where  it  would  have  been 
undignified  or  impossible  to  retaliate  ;  he  attacked  his 
love  of  hunting,  his  attempts  to  preserve  his  game,  and, 
in  a  long  and  stinging  poem,  urged  the  freeholders  to 
"  Ne'er  give  a  vote  to  Growl's  tyrannic  heir."  This 
effort  is  perhaps  interesting  as  a  specimen  of  political 
reprisals  in  another  century,  and  also  as  evidence  of 
the  passion  for  sport  with  which  Coke  was  accredited. 

A  FRAGMENT  OF  A  POEM 
(never  before  printed) 

Addressed  to  the  Freeholders  of  Norfolk  previous 
to  the  County  Election 

ON  THE  MONOPOLY  OF  THE  GAME 
BY  A  FREEHOLDER 

Part  of  it  ran  as  follows  : — 

How  boasts  Prince  Pinery  the  game  he  breeds  ! 

That  game,  alas  !  his  ruined  tenant  feeds  : 

Let  the  poor  man  but  whisper,  he's  undone  ; 

The  keeper's  sent  to  take  away  his  gun  ; 

Should  hares  and  pheasants  spare  the  corn  he  grows, 

He  must  not  shoot,  not  even  shoot — at  crows. 

The  madman's  hounds  next  take  their  summer-beat, 

And  hunt  in  August  through  the  standing  wheat. 

And,  O  !  ye  Gods  !  shall  this  bashaw  be  sent 

A  senator  to  Britain's  Parliament? 

There  to  preserve  our  liberties  and  laws, 

A  peerless  guardian  in  his  country's  cause? 

Let  French  invasions  never  fright  your  ear, 

'Tis  our  domestic  tyrants  we  must  fear. 

And  shall  we  send  them  to  the  Commons'  door, 

And  arm  them  with  fresh  power  to  hurt  us  more? 

No,  countrymen,  be  firm  !  this  year  agree, 

And  shew  you  have  the  courage  to  be  free  ! 

Shew  you  despise  their  low  septennial  arts, — 


i78o]  DICK  MERRYFELLOW 


False  promises,  false  oaths  and  falser  hearts  : 
Shew  that  you  know  them  well ;  and  tho'  before 
You  have  been  duped,  you  will  be  duped  no  more 
Be  honest  to  yourselves  !  fear  no  man's  frown  ! 
And  as  you  set  them  up,  so  pull  them  down. 

But  hark  !  what  shouts  of  joy  !  the  poll  is  o'er  ; 
And  O  !  Sir  Growl's  a  senator  no  more. 

To  Derby  send  the  Prince  of  Pines  away, 

His  father's  friends  to  ruin  or  betray ; 

The  wise  indeed  are  cautious  to  offend, 

No  foe  so  deadly  as  an  injured  friend  ! 

Deep  in  the  coal  pits  plunge  the  Tuscan  down 

To  bring  up  colliers  and  parade  the  town  ; 

To  Derby  send  him  back,  where  all  agree, 

No  coals  or  colliers  are  so  black  as  he. 

Proud,  but  yet  mean,  affecting  Leicester's  state, 

Of  soul  too  little  ever  to  be  great ! 

Whom  not  good  faith  nor  gratitude  could  bind, 

A  hollow  heart !  and  a  deceitful  mind  ! 

True  greatness  springs  from  high  descent  alone, 
Where  virtue  fails,  'tis  lost  upon  a  throne  ; 
Of  ancestors  a  long  illustrious  race, 
Where  virtue  fails,  but  adds  to  our  disgrace  ; 
The  gilded  palace  noise  and  nonsense  rules, 
And  Holkham  House  becomes  a  nest  of  fools. 

No  sense  of  honour  nobly  spurs  him  on, 
His  hounds  and  horses  his  delight  alone  : 
Feeling  so  little  for  the  worst  disgrace, 
He'd  rather  lose  his  seat — than  lose  a  chace  : 
To  shew  the  ruling  passion  of  his  soul, 
His  hounds  and  huntsmen  must  attend  the  poll, 
Th'  election  lost,  he  cares  not,  so  the  pack, 
Can  find  him  out  a  fox  in  coming  back  : 
Freeholders,  then,  in  time  observe  your  cue  ! 
And  make  as  light  of  him  as  he  of  you. 

etc.,  etc. 


2oo  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1781 


It  ends  up — 

Worth  like  Sir  John's1  shall  merit  your  applause, 
And  Windham's  eloquence  protect  our  laws  : 
To  men  like  these,  ye  sons  of  Norfolk  look ; 
And  laugh  at  all  such  patriots  as  Coke. 
September  gth,  1780. 

To  Dick  Merryfellow's  bitter  disappointment,  on 
Wednesday,  September  20th,  "  Sir  E.  Astley,  Bart.,  of 
Melton  Constable,2  and  T.  W.  Coke,  of  Holkham  Hall," 
were  attended  to  the  hustings  by  2000  freeholders  and 
there  chosen  without  opposition. 

Dick  died  the  following  year,  and  Coke  was  saved 
further  persecution  from  him,  although  at  an  election 
twenty  years  afterwards  a  witty  squib  was  produced, 
which  purported  to  be  written  by  the  ' '  Ghost  of  Dick 
Merryfellow." 

1  Sir  John  Wodehouse,  of  Kimberley. 

2  Sir  Edward  Astley,  1729-1802. 


i78o] 


CHAPTER  X 

EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  CONTINUED  k 
i 780-1784 

^Etat  26-30 

S  pointed  out  in  the  last  chapter,  anything 
/^L      which  serves  to  throw  a  light  on  Coke's 

/  m  temperament  has  a  special  interest,  and 
about  two  months  after  his  return  to  Parlia- 
ment in  1780,  he  addressed  the  House  of  Commons 
in  a  speech  that  reveals,  perhaps  more  clearly  than 
any  other  ever  uttered  by  him,  the  lack  of  prejudice 
which,  in  contrast  to  the  unswerving  nature  of  his 
convictions,  presents  an  anomaly  in  his  character. 

Although  at  the  age  of  five,  Coke  was  said  to  have 
been  inappropriately  painted  with  a  sword  in  his  baby 
fingers,  one  of  his  most  strongly  marked  characteristics 
throughout  his  life  was  his  intense  horror  of  bloodshed, 
and  his  steady  opposition  to  all  war  not  resorted  to 
from  dire  necessity.  Yet,  averse  as  he  thus  was  from 
war  in  the  abstract,  and  well  known  to  be  one  of  the 
most  strenuous  opponents  of  the  American  war,  it  is 
curious  to  find  him  bringing  forward  a  motion  in  the 
Commons  on  November  27th  that  the  thanks  of  the 
House  should  be  accorded  to  two  distinguished 
Generals  who  were  conducting  the  hostilities  against 


201 


202  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1780 

America,  General  Sir  Henry  Clinton  and  Lieutenant- 
General  Earl  Cornwallis. 

In  so  doing,  however,  he  differentiated  plainly  be- 
tween his  admiration  for  the  conduct  of  the  Generals, 
and  his  disapprobation  of  the  cause  in  which  they  were 
engaged.  "  The  origin  of  the  war,"  he  announced 
frankly,  "he  kept  entirely  out  of  view  in  the  present 
question.  He  did  not  say  that  the  war  with  America  was 
not  big  with  calamities  to  Great  Britain ;  he  apprehended 
even  that  it  would  be  the  ruin  of  this  country  financially, 
but  still  he  saw  no  medium  between  unconditional  sub- 
mission to  the  enemy  and  the  most  spirited  exertions." 

His  speech  throughout  left  no  doubt  respecting  his 
unalterable  attitude  with  regard  to  the  burning  question 
of  England's  policy  towards  America — a  policy  which 
for  ever  remained  indefensible  in  his  opinion,  even 
though,  as  he  pointed  out,  America  was  now  the  ally  of 
France,  confederate  of  the  House  of  Bourbon,  and  had 
proved  false  to  her  higher  standard.  But  in  the 
difficult  situation  into  which  England  had  brought 
herself,  spirited  exertions  were  her  only  resource  until 
such  time  as  she  should  recognise  and  accept  the  con- 
clusion to  which  matters  were  rapidly  tending.  For, 
in  this  year  of  1780,  discontent  was  becoming  universal 
with  regard  to  the  war  and  to  the  disastrous  expendi- 
ture involved.  This  was  powerfully  represented  by 
a  growing  opposition  which  had  Fox,  Burke  and 
Dunning  for  its  leaders,  and  which  originated  petitions 
for  the  reform  of  abuses  together  with  a  change  of  men 
and  measures.  And  this  spirit  of  discontent  waxed, 
until  in  the  succeeding  year  of  1781  it  rose  to  a  pitch  then 
deemed  formidable.  For  a  time,  indeed,  public  attention 


i78i]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  CONTINUED  203 

was  transferred  to  the  No  Popery  riots  in  London,  which 
were  partially  incited  by  the  formation  of  a  Protestant 
Association  in  Scotland,  and  influenced  by  the  fanati- 
cism of  Lord  George  Gordon.  But  it  revived  in  fresh 
vigour,  and  entered  upon  a  new  phase  with  which  Coke 
was  again  connected. 

Many  of  the  counties,  considering  that  an  organised 
plan  of  resistance  would  have  more  effect  than  milder 
and  disjointed  expressions  of  opinion,  formed  Associa- 
tions with  this  object  in  view,  and  further  appointed 
delegates  to  meet  in  convention  and  give  effect  to  the 
general  resolutions  of  such  constituent  societies.  They 
also  prepared  a  petition  ;  but,  having  ascertained  that 
considerable  disapprobation  of  such  a  convention 
existed,  even  among  those  most  desirous  of  a  redress 
of  grievances,  three  of  the  delegates  signed  in  their 
individual  capacities,  not  in  their  quality  of  representa- 
tives. The  House  of  Commons  regarded  the  petition 
with  Constitutional  jealousy,  and,  amongst  others, 
Coke  expressed  his  strong  disapprobation  of  an 
organised  plan  of  resistance,  which,  in  a  long  speech 
on  April  2nd  he  pronounced  to  be  "  dangerous,  un- 
constitutional, and  exceedingly  improper,"  being, 
moreover,  calculated  to  defeat  its  own  object.1 

His  remarks  on  this  matter  are  historically  valuable, 
because  they  reveal,  not  merely  his  personal  views  on 
the  subject,  but  those  of  the  party  with  whom  he  had 
allied  himself,  and  who,  later,  were  accused  of  abetting 
the  affiliated  societies  enrolled  during  the  French  Re- 
volution. His  speech  shows  that  this  was  far  from  being 
the  attitude  of  a  mass  of  the  most  pronounced  Whigs, 

1  From  the  unpublished  notes  of  R.  N.  Bacon. 


204  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1781 
but  that,  on  the  contrary,  both  Coke  and  his  partisans 
did  not  fail  to  distinguish  between  the  legitimate  ex- 
pression of  individual  opinion  in  a  public  assembly, 
and  an  organised  conjunction  of  numbers  whose  object 
was  to  overawe  the  Government  and  the  Legislature. 

An  instance,  however,  of  how  the  object  of  societies 
was  often  misrepresented  occurred  some  years  after- 
wards. Coke  was  called  upon  in  Parliament  to  defend 
the  Norwich  Union  Society,  a  harmless  gathering  of 
Norwich  citizens,  whose  sole  object  was  the  furthering 
of  Parliamentary  Reform,  and  who,  as  they  pathetically 
protested,  "  never  used  other  weapons  but  truth  and 
reason."  Yet  so  nervous  had  the  Government  become, 
that  this  club  was  represented  by  them  as  a  terrible 
secret  society  affiliated  with  other  societies,  that  it 
had  secret  oaths,  bought  fire-arms,  held  midnight 
orgies  in  which  the  Scriptures  were  ridiculed,  and  was 
forming  a  plot  to  overthrow  the  Government ! 1 

In  1782,  much  to  George  Ill's  annoyance,  that 
Sovereign  found  himself  forced  to  place  the  Whigs  in 
authority  with  Rockingham  at  their  head.  Forthwith 
there  arose  a  repetition  of  the  usual  gossip  that  Coke 
was  about  to  accept  a  peerage.  On  June  8th,  Lord 
Malone  wrote  to  Lord  Charlemont :  "  There  is  to  be  a 
large  batch  of  new  Peers  made,  as  soon  as  they  rise, 
Mr.  Crewe,  Mr.  Coke  of  Norfolk,  Mr.  Parker  of  Devon- 
shire, and  many  more  whose  names  I  have  forgot."  But 
on  July  1st  Rockingham  died ;  and  the  following  day 

Fox  wrote  to  Coke : —     (,  ~  0      T  7      7  0 

"  Grafton  St.,  July  2nd,  1782. 

u  Sir, — I  am  sure  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  point 
out  to  you  how  severe  a  blow  the  strength  and  union 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  Vol.  XXXV,  p.  790. 


1782]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  CONTINUED  205 


of  the  Whig  party  have  suffered  in  the  death  of  Lord 
Rockingham.  What  consequences  this  melancholy 
event  may  produce,  it  is  difficult  to  judge  ;  but  it  is 
impossible  for  those  who  have  at  heart  to  keep 
together  that  system  which  it  was  the  object  of  his 
life  to  promote  and  support,  not  to  wish  you  and 
other  considerable  persons  of  the  same  principles  to 
come  to  town  at  this  critical  juncture  ;  and  to  assist  in 
forming  some  plan  for  acting  together  in  a  body 
upon  the  same  system  and  principles  upon  which  we 
have  hitherto  acted. 

11 1  am,  with  great  truth  and  regard  Sir, 

"  Your  obedient  and  humble  servant, 

"C.  J.  Fox." 

The  King  at  once  appointed  Shelburne  as  Prime 
Minister,  believing  that  the  latter  would  be  amenable 
to  his  will.  Fox,  supported  by  Coke,  and  by  most  of 
his  adherents,  opposed  this  action  of  the  King,  stating 
that  the  nomination  of  First  Minister  rested  with  the 
Cabinet,  who  recommended  Portland  for  the  post.  For 
two  days  the  contest  raged  ;  then  Fox  resigned. 

That  same  year  was  a  momentous  one,  in  that 
it  witnessed  the  long-delayed  conclusion  of  the  Ameri- 
can war.  Fighting  had  practically  ceased  since  the 
surrender  of  Cornwallis,  October  18th,  1781  ;  but  still 
the  formal  ratification  of  peace  remained  in  abeyance  ; 
the  King  still  refused  to  face  the  inevitable ;  and  those 
of  his  persuasion  still  clung  as  tenaciously  to  the 
delusion  that  their  cause  was  not  lost.  Meanwhile, 
throughout  the  country  the  clamour  for  the  termination 
of  hostilities  became  imperative.  Impoverished,  dis- 
heartened at  the  non-success  of  their  arms,  horrified  at 


206  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1782 

the  large  sums  which  had  been  expended,  at  the  lives 
which  had  been  lost  in  a  long  and  bloody  struggle,  dis- 
abused of  their  faith  in  the  policy  which  had  led  to  it, 
the  people  were  frantic  for  the  recognition  of  peace 
on  any  terms. 

On  February  22nd,  1782,  General  Conway  moved 
that  an  address  should  be  presented  to  his  Majesty 
to  implore  him  to  listen  to  the  advice  of  his  Commons 
that  the  war  with  America  might  no  longer  be  pursued. 
The  debate  on  this  occasion  lasted  till  two  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  the  motion  was  lost  by  a  minority  of  oney 
(193-194).1  A  second  motion,  similar  in  substance,  but 
couched  in  less  definite  terms,  met  with  better  success. 
But  the  crucial  question  remained  indeterminate — 
whether  the  King  could  be  forced  to  acknowledge  the 
independence  of  the  revolted  colonies.  Unless  this 
were  so,  unless  the  independence  of  the  United  States 
were  openly  ratified  by  England,  it  was  universally  re- 
cognised that  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  treaty  was 
merely  temporising  with  the  question  at  issue  and  that 
a  fresh  outbreak  of  hostilities  was  ultimately  inevitable. 
As  Fox  pointed  out  later,  when  the  preliminaries  of 
peace  were  discussed,2  to  sign  a  treaty  with  the  Ameri- 
cans on  the  footing  of  independence,  and  to  make 
no  mention  of  independence — '  '  was  a  difference  that 
he  thought  of  the  most  dangerous  nature  to  the  public  ; 
— and  what,"  he  urged,  "  would  the  other  Powers  think 
if  they  heard  that  the  independence  was  not  finally  re- 
cognised, but  remained  dependent  on  another  treaty, 
the  conclusion  of  which  was  at  best  problematical  ?  " 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  Vol.  XXII,  pp.  1047-48. 

2  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Vol.  XIII,  p.  3. 


1782]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  CONTINUED  207 

The  whole  question,  therefore,  turned  on  that  one 
issue — Could  the  King  be  forced  into  giving  a  decisive 
assent  to  the  wishes  of  his  people?  and,  primarily, 
could  the  House  be  forced  into  agreeing  to  an  address 
which  made  such  a  reply  imperative  ?  To  all  previous 
addresses  the  King  had  returned  an  answer  which 
avoided  committing  himself  to  any  definite  statement. 
What  hope  could  be  derived  from  his  reply  to  the 
address  on  General  Conway's  second  motion:  "You 
may  be  assured  that,  in  pursuance  of  your  advice,  I 
shall  take  such  measures  as  shall  appear  to  me  to  be 
most  conducive  to  the  restoration  of  harmony,"  etc.?1 
It  was  requisite  that  an  address  should  be  framed  which 
boldly  stated  the  point  at  issue,  in  terms  which  left  no 
loophole  for  evasion  or  procrastination. 

The  position  of  affairs  being  thus,  Mr.  T.  Keppel 
relates  that  it  was  Coke  who  at  length  brought  forward 
the  motion  in  the  House  that  the  Independence  of 
America  should  be  recognised.  All  realised  then  that 
the  crucial  moment  had  at  length  arrived,  the  moment 
which  was  to  determine  for  all  time  the  relation  between 
the  Mother-country  and  her  Colonies.  All  other  dis- 
cussions had  been  playing  round  the  real  dilemma  ; 
and  the  Tories,  aghast  at  the  conclusion  which  now 
hung  in  the  balance,  refused  to  divide.  All  night  long 
the  House  sat.  Robinson,  the  Whig  whipper-in,  and 
the  whipper-in  on  the  Tory  side,  both  stationed  them- 
selves at  the  door  of  the  House  and  allowed  no  one 
to  go  out.  The  dawn  still  found  them  sitting,  weary, 
determined,  anxious :  each  side  hopeful,  each  side  fear- 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  Vol.  XXII,  p.  108.  The  italics  are  my 
own. — Author. 


208  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1782 

ful  of  the  crisis  upon  which  hung  the  peace  of  Europe 
and  the  fate  of  two  great  nations. 

At  8.30  the  end  came.  The  House  divided.  Amid 
breathless  silence  the  result  was  announced — 177  Noes 
against  178  Ayes.  A  ringing  cheer  went  up  from  the 
ranks  of  the  Whigs ;  Conway  had  been  defeated  by  a 
minority  of  one,  Coke  had  succeeded  by  a  majority  of 
one.  The  result  for  which  Fox  had  laboured  inde- 
fatigably  during  nine  long  years  was  at  length  achieved ; 
the  Independence  of  America  was  secured. 

The  Tories  were  overwhelmed  at  what  they  con- 
sidered the  ignominy  of  such  a  conclusion,  the  Whigs 
triumphant  at  what  they  viewed — not  only  as  a  long- 
delayed  act  of  justice — but  as  the  only  policy  now 
possible  for  England  to  adopt.  Yet  all — Whigs  and 
Tories,  and  the  country  at  large — alike  experienced  an 
overwhelming  relief  at  the  prospect  of  the  peace  which 
was  at  length  assured. 

Coke,  at  the  instigation  of  Fox,  at  once  moved  that 
the  address  to  the  King  should  be  taken  up  by  the 
whole  House.  By  the  unanimous  voice  of  his  party 
he  was  called  upon  to  present  it;  and  to  this,  supported 
by  General  Conway,  he  consented.  As  Knight  of  the 
Shire  he  had  not  only  the  right  to  wear  his  spurs  in 
the  House,1  but  a  further  right  to  attend  Court  "in  his 
boots,"  i.e.  in  his  country  clothes;  which  latter 
privilege,  however,  was  seldom,  if  ever,  exercised. 
But  on  this  occasion  Coke  availed  himself  of  it,  and 
appeared  unceremoniously  before  the  King  wearing 
his  ordinary  country  garb.  It  was  an  extremely  pic- 
turesque dress  —  top-boots  with  spurs,  light  leather 

1  See  Diary  and  Correspondence  of  Lord  Colchester,  Vol.  I,  p.  45. 


1782]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  CONTINUED  209 

breeches,  a  long-tailed  coat  and  a  broad-brimmed  hat ; 
but  it  caused  the  greatest  horror  at  Court,  and  neither 
the  matter  nor  the  manner  of  the  address  was  palatable 
to  George  III. 

One  can  picture  that  strange  scene — the  discomfited 
King,  forced  to  agree  to  what  meant  the  failure  of  all 
his  hopes,  of  all  for  which  he  had  so  long  and  so 
obstinately  struggled  ;  the  excited  Members  divided  in 
opinion  on  the  momentous  event  in  which  they  were 
assisting ;  and  the  man  who  headed  them,  that  youth 
of  twenty-eight,  who  alone  in  that  great  body  of  men 
whom  he  represented  showed  himself  oblivious  to  the 
petty  details  of  Court  etiquette — to  everything,  in  fact, 
save  the  one  thing  which  he  felt  that  he  had  come  in 
triumph  to  claim — a  belated  act  of  justice  to  a  long- 
injured  people. 

Gainsborough  afterwards  painted  Coke  in  the  dress 
which  he  wore  on  this  historical  occasion.1  It  is  a  life- 
sized  picture,  said  to  be  the  last  portrait  ever  painted 
by  that  artist,  and  which  now  hangs  in  the  Saloon  at 
Holkham.  Coke  is  represented  standing  beneath  a 
tree  with  a  dog  at  his  feet  and  in  the  act  of  loading  his 
gun.  The  figure  is  carelessly  graceful,  its  attitude 
natural,  its  surroundings  rural ;  yet  it  suggests  some- 
thing more  than  the  quiet  charm  of  that  rural  scene. 
For  into  the  beautiful,  disdainful  face  in  the  picture 
Gainsborough  has  surely  put  something  of  the  expres- 
sion which  Coke  must  have  borne  when  he  headed  the 
address  which  announced  to  George  III  the  failure  of 
injustice,  and  the  independence,  for  all  time,  of  the 
United  States. 

1  See  Frontispiece,  Vol.  I. 

I.— P 


2io  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1782 


Years  afterwards,  when  welcoming  an  American  to 
the  Holkham  sheep-shearing  in  1821,1  Coke  referred  to 
that  day. 

"  Every  one,"  he  said,  "  knows  my  respect  for  the 
Americans,  for  their  manly  and  independent  asser- 
tion of  their  liberties.  I  came  into  Parliament  pre- 
vious to  the  commencement  of  the  disastrous  war 
which  divided  the  two  countries,  which,  under  a 
mild  and  wise  Government,  might  have  been  joined 
hand  in  hand,  and,  thus  united,  might  have  bid  [sic] 
defiance  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  It  may  not  be 
known,  for  I  have  never  mentioned  it  to  my  friends 
in  that  House,  that  I  was  the  individual  who  moved 
to  put  an  end  to  that  war,  and  it  was  carried  by  a 
majority  of  one,  the  numbers  being  177  to  178.  I 
was  the  only  Member  out  of  twelve  from  this  county 
who  voted  against  the  war  ;  and  I  thank  God  for  it ; 
I  look  back  with  satisfaction  to  that  conduct,  and 
have  followed  the  same  principles  ever  since.  When 
it  was  carried,  Lord  North  moved  that  the  debate 
should  stand  over  till  the  following  day  ;  but  Mr. 
Fox  suggested  to  me  to  move  that  the  Address  be 
carried  up  to  the  Throne.  The  Debate  lasted  till 
seven  the  next  morning,  and  Lord  North,  seeing  that 
not  a  man  would  stir,  at  length  gave  way  ;  and  I 
carried  up  the  Address  as  an  English  Country  Gentle- 
man, in  my  leather  breeches,  boots  and  spurs.  But, 
would  you  believe  it,  the  traitor  General  Arnold, 
when  I  presented  the  Address,  stood  as  near  to  his 
Majesty  as  I  am  now  to  the  Duke  of  Sussex — a  most 
lamentable  proof  of  that  fatal  policy  of  which  we 
have  long  seen  the  evil  effects.  .  . 

As  is  well  known,  General  Benedict  Arnold  was  a 
man  of  contemptible  character,  who  had  first  been  on 

1  A  Report  of  the  Transactions  at  the  Holkham  Sheep-shearing  {1821), 
being  the  Forty-third  Anniversary  of  that  Meeting.  By  R.  N.  Bacon. 
Printed  by  Burks  and  Kinnerbrook,  and  sold  by  J.  Hording,  St. 
James's  Street,  London.    (Pages  73-4.) 


1782]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  CONTINUED  211 

the  American  side  during  the  war,  but  who,  having 
been  brought  before  a  court-martial  and  found  guilty 
of  certain  charges  which  entailed  his  being  condemned 
to  a  public  reprimand,  afterwards  in  revenge  privately 
espoused  the  Royalist  side,  and  betrayed  to  them  any 
secrets  of  the  party  to  which  he  still  professed  to  belong. 
On  his  treachery  being  discovered,  he  joined  the  British 
openly,  and  was  appointed  Colonel  in  the  British  army, 
receiving  payment  of  upwards  of  £6000. 1 

The  close  proximity  to  the  King  of  such  a  man,  on 
such  an  occasion,  was  calculated  to  incense  all  lovers 
of  straight  dealing,  irrespective  of  party  feeling  ;  but 
another  fact  which  specially  angered  the  Whigs  was 
that — owing,  it  was  whispered,  to  the  presentation  of 
the  address  being  singularly  unpalatable  to  the  King — 
public  mention  of  it  was  subsequently  suppressed  or 
minimised  in  as  far  as  was  practicable  ; — it  will  be 
observed  that  Coke  himself,  a  few  years  afterwards, 
spoke  of  it  as  a  fact  which  "may  not  be  known."  On 
March  6th,  1782,  "Sir  Joseph  Mawbey  claimed  the 
attention  of  the  House  to  what  he  called  an  indecent 
behaviour  in  Ministers,  who  always  took  care  to  have 
inserted  in  the  Gazette  every  address  from  every  little 
paltry  borough  that  flattered  and  cringed  to  them,  but 
the  important  Address  to  His  Majesty,  to  put  an  end  to 
the  accursed  American  war,  and  his  Majesty's  answer 
to  it,  had  not  yet  made  its  appearance  ;  he  there- 
fore desired  to  know  the  cause  of  such  neglect."  In 
consequence,  Lord  Surrey  further  pointed  out  that 
Ministers  had  never  behaved  in  such  an  "indecent 


1  For  many  years  General  Arnold  had  a  house  in  Gloucester  Place. 
He  died  June  14th,  1801,  and  was  buried  on  June  21st  at  Brompton. 


212  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1782 
manner"  as  when  the  Address  to  which  Sir  Joseph 
Mawbey  referred  was  presented  to  the  King,  ' 1  for  when 
the  House  went  up  with  the  address,  who  should  they 
see  close  to  His  Majesty's  right  hand,  but  the  most 
determined  foe  to  America,  General  Arnold."1 

In  his  speech  for  November  5th,  however,  when  the 
following  Session  of  Parliament  was  opened,  the  King 
was  forced  publicly  to  announce  his  assent  to  the  deci- 
sion of  his  Parliament ;  and  the  irony  of  this  act  must 
have  been  heightened  by  the  knowledge  that  such  a 
crisis  had  been  forced  by  the  balance  of  one  vote.  On 
the  25th  of  January  following  (1783),  the  United  States 
were  finally  acknowledged  free,  sovereign  and  indepen- 
dent, and  the  preliminaries  of  peace  were  signed  be- 
tween Great  Britain,  France  and  Spain. 

It  was  not  long  before  Coke  again  presented  an 
address  to  the  King.  Fox,  who  had  never  ceased  in 
his  endeavour  to  oust  Shelburne  from  the  Ministry,  at 
last  bethought  himself  of  a  plan  which  he  believed 
would  achieve  his  object.  Early  one  morning,  while 
Coke  was  still  in  bed,  Fox  came  to  see  him,  and  enter- 
ing the  room  unceremoniously,  seated  himself  upon  the 
edge  of  the  bed  and  unfolded  his  great  scheme.  He 
proposed,  he  said,  to  oust  Shelburne  by  forming  a 
Coalition  with  Lord  North,  and  the  conjunction  of 
their  two  parties  against  the  Government.  Coke  was 
horrified  at  a  suggestion  which  he  unhesitatingly  pro- 
nounced to  be  a  "  most  revolting  compact";  and  he  did 
his  utmost  to  dissuade  Fox  from  pursuing  it.  A  heated 
argument  ensued  between  them.    Fox  pointed  out,  and 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  Vol.  XXII,  p.  1 109.    See  also  Appendix  A. 


1783]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  CONTINUED  213 

laid  great  stress  on  the  fact  that  Lord  North  had 
promised  to  act  upon  his  opinion,  not  he  upon  Lord 
North's — in  other  words,  that  North  might  be  said  to 
have  gone  over  to  Fox,  not  Fox  to  North.  Coke  told 
him  that  this  was  the  one  redeeming  feature  in  an 
otherwise  disgraceful  alliance — an  alliance  which 
would  assuredly  give  rise  to  much  misunderstanding 
amongst  both  friends  and  foes. 

Yet,  profoundly  as  Coke  regretted  what  he  believed 
to  be  an  act  of  mistaken  policy  on  the  part  of  Fox — an 
act  which,  as  he  pointed  out,  was  open  to  grave  mis- 
construction— his  faith  in  the  purity  of  Fox's  motives 
remained  unshaken.  He  judged  Fox  out  of  his  own 
absolute  integrity,  and  believed  that,  however  faulty  in 
judgment  the  great  statesman  might  be  at  this  juncture, 
his  sincerity  and  the  honesty  of  his  intentions  were  in- 
violable. Thus,  while  he  fought  Fox's  conclusions,  he 
determined  to  adhere  to  Fox's  cause  with  unflinching 
loyalty.  For  long  they  argued,  each  unconvinced  by 
the  other's  vehement  reasoning,  each  firmly  persuaded 
that  the  judgment  of  the  other  was  at  fault  ;  but  still, 
each  with  his  faith  in  the  motives  of  the  other  abso- 
lutely unchanged.1 

Although  Fox  achieved  his  object,  and  Shelburne 
resigned  on  February  24th,  yet  how  correct  had  been 
Coke's  prognostic  with  regard  to  the  more  far-reaching 
results  of  that  policy,  was  doomed  to  be  proved  subse- 
quently. That  successful  diplomacy  brought  Fox  little 
honour  ;  his  integrity  was  called  in  question  ;  it  was 

1  From  the  unpublished  MS.  of  R.  N.  Bacon.  It  is  curious  that  a 
wood  which  Coke  planted  at  Holkham  at  this  date  was  called  and  still 
retains  the  name  of  the  Coalition  Wood. 


214  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1783 
said  that  as  he  had  coalesced  with  Lord  North,  so  he 
would  be  willing  to  betray  his  party  by  forming  a  union 
with  Pitt ;  and  his  motives,  though  undoubtedly  pure, 
were  thus  looked  at  askance  by  some  of  those  who  had 
been  his  warmest  adherents ;  while,  by  the  general 
public  of  his  day,  as  well  as  by  many  later  readers  of 
history,  the  true  grounds  of  his  alliance  with  North 
were  never  understood. 

Meanwhile,  although  Shelburne  had  resigned,  his 
Ministry  remained  in  power,  and  Fox  appealed  to  Coke 
to  consummate  the  triumph  for  which  the  Whigs  were 
impatient.  Early  in  the  following  March  he  wrote 
urgently  to  Coke  to  aid  him  in  the  formation  of  a 
new  Ministry.1  "  I  depended  upon  seeing  you  to-night 
at  Brooks's,"  he  wrote  one  Sunday  evening,  "  or  I 
should  have  sent  to  you  to  ask  you  whether  you  have 
any  objection  to  moving  to-morrow  an  address  similar 
to  that  which  you  moved  last  year.  There  are  many 
reasons  why  you  are  the  properest  person  to  move  it, 
and  I  know  your  opinion  to  be  so  strong." 

The  result  of  this  pressing  appeal  was  that,  on 
the  19th  of  March,  Coke  gave  notice  that  if  an  Ad- 
ministration should  not  be  formed  on  or  before  the 
Friday  following,  he  would  on  that  day  move  an  address 
to  his  Majesty  to  discover  the  reason.  "This,"  says 
Walpole,  "  was  probably  to  terrify  the  King."2  The 
notice  was  supposed  to  have  had  the  desired  effect. 

1  This  letter,  like  most  of  Fox's  communications  to  Coke,  is  undated, 
but  it  is  endorsed  in  Coke's  handwriting-,  "Re.  moving"  an  Address  to  His 
Majesty,"  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  was  written  at  this  juncture. 

2  Remarks  of  Walpole,  quoted  in  Memorials  and  Correspondence  of 
C.  J.  Fox,  ed.  by  Lord  John  Russell  (1853),  Vol.  II,  p.  50.  "Coke," 
adds  Walpole,  "  had  the  promise  of  a  peerage  from  Lord  Rockingham." 


1783]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  CONTINUED  215 

On  the  22nd  "  Mr.  Coke  made  his  intended  motion,  but 
waived  it  on  the  Coalition  declaring  that  they  believed 
his  Majesty  would  soon  appoint  an  Administration. " 1 
It  was  universally  believed  that  the  King  had  com- 
manded the  Duke  of  Portland  and  Lord  North  to  lay 
an  arrangement  for  a  new  Administration  before  him  ; 
but  still,  no  definite  announcement  came  of  the  King 
having  taken  action.  On  Monday  24th,  therefore,  Coke 
rose  in  the  House,  and  demanded  to  know  definitely 
whether  any  Administration  was  formed,  or  whether 
any  was  forming  which  was  to  consist  of  men  possess- 
ing the  confidence  of  the  country? 

Mr.  Pitt  in  answer,  to  the  surprise  of  all  present, 
declared  that  he  was  not  Minister,  and  knew  of  no 
arrangement  of  Administration  whatsoever. 

Thus  again  it  devolved  upon  Coke  to  force  the 
reluctant  action  of  George  III.  He  delayed  no  longer. 
"  Public  need,"  he  said,  "  required  him  to  take  a  step 
which  might  seem  an  infringement  on  the  prerogative 
of  the  Crown,  but  the  distracted  state  of  affairs  through- 
out the  country  was  an  invincible  spur  to  action."  He 
spoke  strongly,  pointing  out  the  impossibility  of  re- 
taining in  office  "  those  Members  on  whose  conduct 
the  House  had  already  passed  a  censure,"  and  he 
entered  into  the  cause  and  imperative  need  of  the 
motion  he  was  about  to  make,  which  he  termed  the 
"Call  of  the  People  by  its  Representative  Body." 
1 1  Every  man,"  he  summed  up,  "  both  in  and  out  of 
Parliament,  must  admit  the  necessity  of  having  an 
Administration,  and  that  immediately  " 2 

1  Op.  city  p.  52. 

2  From  the  unpublished  MS.  of  R.  N.  Bacon. 


216  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1783 

He  then  moved  his  address,  which  respectfully,  but 
somewhat  sarcastically,  urged  his  Majesty  to  "con- 
descend to  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  this  House." 
A  heated  and  most  remarkable  debate  ensued.  Fox  spoke 
at  great  length,  and  said  that  the  motion  had  his  hearty 
approbation  ;  the  people  demanded  it  and  the  kingdom 
required  it.  Finally,  it  was  agreed  to  without  a  division. 

The  King  replied  that  "it  was  his  earnest  desire 
to  do  everything  in  his  power  to  comply  with  the 
wishes  of  his  faithful  subjects,"  though  on  March  26th 
he  remarked  pointedly  to  General  Conway  :  "It  was  a 
strange  debate  on  Monday."1 

But  Coke's  famous  Address  had  dealt  the  death-blow 
to  the  Shelburne  Ministry.2 

On  the  2nd  of  April  following  (1783),  the  Coalition 
Government  was  formed,  with  Portland  at  its  head. 

It  was  on  October  8th  following  that  Fox,  still 
anxious  lest  he  should  forfeit  Coke's  support,  deter- 
mined on  a  special  appeal  for  his  assistance  : — 

"  As  the  meeting  of  Parliament  is  now  fixed  for  the 
nth  of  next  month,"  he  wrote,  "and  as  the  most 
important  business  is  likely  to  come  on  immediately 
after  its  meeting,  I  cannot  help  troubling  you  with 
these  few  lines  to  state  to  you  the  importance  of  a 
numerous  attendance  on  the  part  of  the  true  friends 
of  the  Whig  cause.  As  I  flatter  myself  that  I  have 
not  done  anything  to  forfeit  your  good  opinion,  so 
I  cannot  help  hoping  that  you  will  give  me  credit 
when  I  assure  you  that  it  is  for  the  support  of  the 
cause  and  not  of  any  particular  situation  that  I  am 
thus  earnest  in  requesting  your  attendance." 

1  Memorials  and  Correspondence  of  C.  J.  Fox,  edited  by  Lord  John 
Russell,  Vol.  II,  p.  54. 

2  See  The  Georgian  Era,  by  Clarke,  1833,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  50-52. 


1783]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  CONTINUED  217 

Coke  did  not  fail  to  respond  to  this  appeal.  He  was 
in  his  seat  when  Parliament  met  on  November  nth, 
and  also  on  the  18th  when  Fox  brought  in  his  great 
India  Bill,  which  had  in  view  the  establishment  of  some 
definite  control  over  the  power  of  the  trading  company, 
who  had  become  possessed  of  large  provinces  in  India 
and  who  were  abusing  the  authority  thus  acquired. 
The  Bill,  which  was  to  vest  the  authority  then  exercised 
by  the  company  in  a  body  of  seven  Commissioners, 
passed  triumphantly  through  the  House  of  Commons  ; 
but  the  King,  who,  after  his  defeat  with  regard  to 
America,  was  more  than  ever  tenacious  of  his  preroga- 
tive, viewed  it  with  suspicion,  as  a  measure  calculated  to 
diminish  his  personal  supremacy.  He  determined  that 
it  should  not  pass  the  Lords.  On  December  16th  Fox 
wrote  indignantly  to  Coke  : — 

"  My  dear  Sir, 

"  Nothing  can  go  against  me  more  than  to 
trouble  you  at  this  time  upon  the  subject  of  attend- 
ance in  Parliament,  but  we  are  beat  in  the  House  of 
Lords  by  the  direct  interference  of  the  Courts  and  if 
some  vigorous  measures  are  not  immediately  taken, 
the  Parliament  will  be  dissolved,  and  a  system  of 
influence  be  established  by  acquiescence,  of  the 
most  dangerous  of  any  yet  attempted.  I  wish  you 
at  the  same  time  to  let  this  be  known  to  any  members 
you  may  happen  to  see,  who  have  a  spark  of  Whig 
principles  left.        «  i  anl)  dear  Sir, 

u  Yours  ever, 
9  "C.  J.  Fox. 

"St.  James  Place,  j 
"  16th  Dec,  1783." 

The  King's  conduct  was  incompatible  with  constitu- 
tional monarchy,  and  the  uproar  in  the  House  of 


218  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1784 

Commons  was  great.  Motion  after  motion  condemna- 
tory of  it  was  carried  by  great  majorities.  On  the 
18th  December  the  Coalition  Ministry  were  dismissed 
from  office  and  Pitt  accepted  the  Premiership.  The 
Whigs  were  forthwith  determined  on  Pitt's  resigna- 
tion, and  Pitt  was  equally  determined  not  to  tender  it. 
On  February  2nd,  1784,  Coke  brought  forward  a 
motion  prefaced  by  a  short  but  telling  speech  against 
the  continuance  of  the  Ministers  in  their  office,  and 
Mr.  Pitt's  refusal  to  resign,  declaring — 

"That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  House  that  the 
continuance  of  the  present  Ministers  in  their  offices 
is  an  obstacle  to  the  formation  of  such  an  Adminis- 
tration as  may  enjoy  the  confidence  of  this  House  and 
tend  to  put  an  end  to  the  unfortunate  divisions  and 
distractions  of  the  country." 

The  debate  on  this  motion  was  great.  The  ground 
on  which  it  was  combated  by  Mr.  Dundas  and  others 
was  that  the  growing  popularity  of  the  new  Adminis- 
tration rendered  it  impossible  for  the  House  to  adjourn 
to  the  foot  of  the  throne  and  implore  the  Crown  to 
rescue  them  from  its  tyranny  !  Fox  made  an  eloquent 
speech  in  defence  of  the  motion,  while  Pitt  declared 
that  he  would  not  be  forced  to  resign,  in  a  speech 
which  has  become  historical.  "I  refuse,"  he  said,  "to 
march  out  of  my  post  with  a  halter  round  my  neck,  to 
change  my  armour,  and  meanly  beg  to  be  readmitted 
as  a  volunteer  in  the  ranks  of  the  enemy."  Some  of 
the  Members  suggested  a  Coalition,  but  finally  the 
House  divided  on  the  motion,  and  it  was  carried  by 
a  majority  of  nineteen. 

In  a  subsequent  debate  Coke,  alluding  to  this  resolu- 


1784]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  CONTINUED  219 

tion,  said:  ' ' That  no  man  should  tell  him  that  the 
calamities  that  might  flow  from  the  present  interregnum 
were  to  be  ascribed  to  him,  for  making  that  motion  : 
they  were  to  be  ascribed  to  those  Ministers  who  dared 
to  stand  up  in  proud  opposition  to  the  whole  of  the 
House  of  Commons." 

On  the  25th  of  March,  1784,  Parliament  was  dis- 
solved, and  the  country  was  plunged  into  the  excite- 
ment of  a  General  Election. 

Now  Sir  Edward  Astley,  on  this  occasion,  appears 
to  have  acted  towards  Coke  in  a  manner  which  even  his 
own  family  strongly  condemned.  Without  acquaint- 
ing Coke  with  his  intention,  he  severed  all  connection 
with  his  former  colleague,  and  started  a  canvass  on  his 
own  behalf  in  Norfolk — a  fact  all  the  more  astonishing 
in  that  the  expenses  of  this  contest  were  to  be  shared 
by  Coke.  Coke's  opponents  in  the  county  also  set  on 
foot  an  early  canvass  secretly  during  his  absence  in 
town,  and  further  set  afloat  a  triumphant  rumour  that 
Astley  had  gone  over  to  their  representative  Wode- 
house.  They  hoped  by  this  means,  and  by  making  the 
time  between  the  day  of  nomination  and  the  day  of 
election  unusually  brief,  to  give  Coke  no  opportunity 
for  recovering  lost  ground. 

When,  therefore,  Coke  set  to  work,  it  was  practically 
impossible  to  get  through  the  requisite  canvassing. 
Whilst  he  drove  about  the  country  soliciting  the  sup- 
port of  his  friends,  Mrs.  Coke  exerted  herself  actively 
on  his  behalf.  By  April  4th  she  was  writing  letters 
from  Norwich  to  many  of  Coke's  influential  friends, 
informing  them  that  the  day  of  nomination  was  fixed 


220  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1784 

for  April  8th,  "when  an  intention  is  publicky  avowed 
by  Sir  J.  Wodehouse's  friends  to  disturb  the  peace  of 
the  county  by  putting  him  in  opposition  to  the  old 
Members."  Her  efforts  were  viewed  with  great  alarm 
by  Coke's  opponents,  who  issued  much  sound  advice  to 
their  followers  on  the  subject,  amongst  others  a  song, 
dated  the  day  previous  to  that  of  nomination,  the 
refrain  of  which  ran  as  follows  : — 

Britons  to  your  country  true, 
Let  not  beauty  vanquish  you  ; 
Formed  to  conquer,  formed  to  please, 
Gaze  no  more  on  charms  like  these  : 
From  the  winning  graces  flee, 
Hostile  now  to  Liberty  ! 

April  ytk,  1784. 

Yet,  so  late  as  April  1st,  Mrs.  Coke  had  remained  in 
town  in  order,  as  she  mentions,  to  attend  Court  and 
pay  her  respects  to  his  Majesty  for  conferring  a 
peerage  upon  her  brother  James.1  Before  starting  for 
Court,  however,  she  had  found  time  to  dispatch  a  letter 
to  Sir  Harbord  Harbord  from  Harley  Street,  asking  him, 
"for  Mr.  Coke's  satisfaction,"  to  send  a  few  lines  to 
assure  her  that  he,  among  Mr.  Coke's  other  adherents, 
would  support  him  on  the  day  of  trial ;  and,  in  unfore- 
seen consequence  of  this  letter,  a  strange  misunderstand- 
ing arose  between  Coke  and  one  of  his  oldest  friends. 

Sir  Harbord  Harbord  sent  a  reply  to  Mrs.  Coke 
authorising  her  to  declare  "in  anyway  serviceable  to 
Mr.  Coke"  that  he  was  resolved  to  support  him  and 
Sir  Edward  Astley.    Three  days  later,  on  April  4th, 

1  James  Dutton,  who  had  married  Elizabeth  Coke  and  was  raised  to 
the  peerage  as  Baron  Sherborne,  of  Sherborne,  by  Pitt,  1784  (Burke  and 
Courthorpe  date  this  creation  on  May  20th). 


1784]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  CONTINUED  221 
writing  to  Sir  Edward,  Sir  Harbord  happened  to  relate 
how  Wodehouse  called  upon  him  subsequently,  to 
canvass  him,  and  how  he  had  told  Wodehouse  that 
ii  Although  I  certainly  do  not  think  with  Mr.  Coke  on 
politicsy  I  shall  undoubtedly  support  him  in  the  county , 
and  have  told  him  so."  Wodehouse,  he  adds,  consider- 
ably chagrined,  exclaimed  coldly:  "  Do  I  perfectly 
understand  you  that  you  are  engaged  to  Mr.  Coke  and 
Sir  E.  Astley?"  "  Undoubtedly  so,"  Sir  Harbord 
states  that  he  replied  ;  and  Mr.  Wodehouse,  he  further 
explains,  "  did  not  make  a  civil  bow  on  leaving  !  " 

For  what  reason  I  cannot  say,  Coke  became  firmly 
convinced  that,  in  the  ensuing  canvass,  Sir  Harbord 
played  him  false,  and  was  actively  instrumental  in 
turning  the  tide  of  popularity  against  him.  Still  more, 
he  believed  that  it  was  as  a  direct  reward  of  this 
treachery  that  Sir  Harbord  was  given  his  peerage  in 
1786.  This,  after  their  long  friendship,  and  after  the 
manner  in  which  he,  personally,  had  acted  towards  Sir 
Harbord  in  regard  to  the  episode  with  Dick  Merry- 
fellow,  wounded  him  deeply  ;  but  he  never  referred  to 
the  matter,  and  it  was  only  by  chance  that  a  common 
acquaintance  became  aware  of  the  fact  long  after  Sir 
Harbord's  death,  and  brought  about  an  explanation. 
Over  fifty  years  afterwards,  Sir  Harbord's  son,  Lord 
Suffield,  in  order  to  clear  his  father's  memory,  hunted 
for  evidence  amongst  the  latter's  papers.  The  result 
was  the  discovery  of  several  letters  more  or  less  avail- 
able for  the  required  purpose,  but,  above  all,  of  the 
account  of  the  interview  with  Wodehouse  which  his 
father  had  written  to  Astley,  and  which  successfully 
established  Sir  Harbord's  sincerity  towards  his  old 


222  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1784 

friend.  These  were  forwarded  to  Coke,  and,  after 
studying  them,  he  expressed  himself — to  his  extreme 
satisfaction — convinced  that  his  suspicions  of  half  a 
century  had  been  unfounded.1 

But  the  belief  that  both  his  friend  and  his  colleague 
were  acting  counter  to  his  interests  in  this  election 
must  have  been  a  bitter  thought  to  Coke,  while  it  ren- 
dered his  acknowledged  opponents  all  the  more  active 
in  their  efforts  to  oust  him.  His  bill  against  night- 
poaching  of  the  previous  session  was  brought  up 
strongly  against  him,  and  a  ridiculous  little  story 
made  great  use  of  amongst  the  Tory  wags.  A  certain 
poor  man  had  allowed  his  cow  to  wander  into  Holkham 
Park.  Unknown  to  Coke,  his  steward  summoned  the 
man  for  trespass  and  lost  the  day.  The  onus  of  the 
steward's  action  naturally  fell  upon  his  master,  and  the 
incident  was  raked  up  at  many  subsequent  elections, 
when  songs,  both  scathing  and  scurrilous,  attempted  to 
immortalise  it. 2 

1  Life  of  First  Baron  Suffield,  by  R.  N.  Bacon  (privately  printed). 

2  A  favourite  one  was  entitled  "The  Norfolk  Cow-killer,"  and  was 
sung  to  the  tune  of  "  The  Vicar  and  Moses."  It  consisted  of  nine 
verses  in  the  following  strain  : — 

In  story  we're  told 
That  Alcides  of  old, 
The  fam'd  bull  of  Minos  laid  low  ; 
We've  a  hero  as  great, 
But  of  much  later  date, 
Holkham's  Hercules  conquer'd  a  coo  ! 
Fal  de  ral,  etc. 

Warwick's  valiant  Earl  Guy 
Made  a  mad  monster  die, 
And  fame  has  recorded  the  blow  ; 
But  old  Leicester  wou'd  sneer 
To  see  this  wou'd-be  peer 
Vivet  armis  attack  a  tame  coo  ! 

Fal  de  ral,  etc.  etc. 


1784]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  CONTINUED  223 

The  great  charge  which  the  Tories  tried  to  en- 
courage against  Coke  at  this  juncture  was  that  he  was 
working  for  a  peerage.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  that 
this  idea  could  ever  have  obtained  credence  with 
regard  to  a  man  of  his  well-known  independence  of 
spirit ;  but  there  were  many  who  believed  it,  and  it  is 
referred  to  in  the  electioneering  squibs,  while  the 
following  doggerel — which  also  contained  verses  to 
Astley  and  Windham — became  very  popular  : — 

Tommy  Coke,  Tommy  Coke, 

You  so  fain  would  have  spoke 

I'd  a  strong  inclination  to  hear  you  ; 

But  your  countenance  told  us 

For  a  peerage  you'd  sold  us, 

So  not  a  freeholder  could  bear  you, 

Tom  Coke, 
So  not  a  freeholder  could  bear  you  ! 

Below  this  verse  is  the  emphatic  footnote — 

N.B. — The  Fox  stinks  worse  than  ever! 

But  while  Coke's  constituents  were  encouraged  to 
believe  that  he  would  play  them  false,  Pitt,  aware  of 
Coke's  importance  as  a  political  opponent,  secretly 
endeavoured  to  wean  him  from  his  allegiance  to  Fox  ; 
and,  failing  to  do  so,  took  a  petty  revenge.  The  follow- 
ing story,  told  by  Lord  Albemarle,1  is  recorded  also  in 
a  private  notebook  by  Mr.  Keppel,  who,  like  Lord 
Albemarle,  says  that  he  heard  it  direct  from  Coke. 
Lord  Albemarle  relates  : — 

"  In  1784,  William  Pitt  the  younger,  wishing  to 
draw  Coke  from  his  allegiance  to  his  rival  Fox, 
sought  to  bribe  him  with  the  Earldom  of  Leicester, 
which  had  been  previously  in  his  family.  The  offer 
was  indignantly  refused. 

1  George,  sixth  Earl  of  Albemarle,  s.  his  brother,  1851. 


224  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1784 

"To  spite  Coke,  the  Premier  bestowed  the  title 
upon  his  near  neighbour  George  Townshend.1  Before 
accepting  Pitt's  offer,  Mr.  Townshend  wrote  to  his 
father  to  ask  his  approval,  and  received  for  answer  : — 

4  Dear  Son, 

'I  have  no  objection  to  your  taking  any  title 
but  that  of 

*  Your  affectionate  father, 

*  Townshend.' 
"  I  had  this  anecdote  from  Coke  himself."  2 

One  point,  however,  should  have  been  mentioned  in 
connection  with  the  previous  offer  of  this  peerage  made 
by  Pitt  to  Coke — a  point  which  is  sufficiently  obvious, 
and  the  omission  of  which  by  Lord  Albemarle  has 
very  naturally  cast  some  doubt  on  the  authenticity  of 
his  story.  This  is,  that  Pitt's  offer  of  the  peerage 
to  Coke  was  not  a  formal  and  public  offer.  Not  only 
would  it  have  been  practically  impossible  for  Pitt  to 
approach  a  rival  of  Coke's  political  importance  directly 
with  such  a  proposal,  but  Coke's  own  evidence,  as  we 
shall  see  later,  refutes  the  suggestion  of  such  an  event 
having  taken  place.  In  a  letter  to  Lord  Grey  in  1830,3 
in  which  he  enumerates  the  formal  offers  of  a  peerage 
received  and  refused  by  him  prior  to  that  date,  he  makes 
no  mention  whatsoever  of  this  offer  of  Pitt's,  of  which 
he  had  yet  informed  both  Lord  Albemarle  and  Mr. 
Keppel,  separately,  that  he  had  been  the  recipient. 

1  May  18th,  1784.  Georg-e,  second  Marquis,  b.  1755.  Summoned  to 
Parliament  1770  as  Baron  de  Ferrars  of  Chartley,  to  which  Barony  he 
succeeded  {jure  matris)  on  September  14th  of  that  year. 

2  Fifty  Years  of  My  Life,  Vol.  I,  p.  133  ;  see  also  Posthumous 
Memoirs,  Sir.  N.  W.  Wraxall  (1836),  Vol.  I,  p.  23. 

3  See  post,  Vol.  II,  p.  419. 


1784]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  CONTINUED  225 

But  neither  does  he  make  mention  of  a  like  offer  con- 
veyed by  Charles  Tompson  two  months  after  the  com- 
mencement of  his  parliamentary  career,  and  of  which 
we  have  undoubted  proof  that  he  had  also  been  a 
recipient,  since  he  had  stated  this  fact  definitely  in  a 
public  speech.  The  inference  appears  conclusive — the 
one  offer,  like  the  other,  was  a  negotiation  conducted 
privately  through  a  third  person,  in  which  the  earldom 
of  Leicester  was  held  out  as  a  bait  to  Coke,  and  was,  as 
he  related,  indignantly  rejected. 

A  very  angry  correspondence  forthwith  ensued 
between  Coke  and  the  Townshends  with  regard  to  the 
proposed  appropriation  by  the  latter  of  a  title  which 
had  been  previously  annexed  by  Coke's  great-uncle, 
and  to  which  he  therefore  considered  that  his  own 
family  had  a  prior  claim.  The  De  Lisles,  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Leicester  peerage  created  by  Queen 
Elizabeth,  wrote  to  both  combatants  to  emphasise  their 
own  point  of  view,  viz.  that  they  alone  had  a  right  to 
the  disputed  peerage  ;  but  this  interference  was  con- 
sidered to  be  irrelevant.  There  seemed  something 
strangely  ominous  to  the  family  of  Coke  in  the  name 
of  George  Townshend  ;  it  was  a  bearer  of  that  name 
who  had  challenged — some  said,  slain — Lord  Leicester  ; 
it  was  a  bearer  of  that  name  who,  by  a  curious  coinci- 
dence, now  engaged  in  a  duel  of  a  different  nature  with 
his  descendant.  The  feeling  in  Norfolk  was  very  strong 
against  the  action  of  the  Townshends  in  this  matter, 
and  George  Townshend  was  so  much  annoyed  at  the 
manner  in  which  his  decision  was  regarded,  that  he 
wrote  to  many  influential  people  in  the  county  to  ex- 
onerate himself  from  the  charge  of  bad  taste  or  deliberate 
1.— Q 


226  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1784 
ill-will  towards  Mr.  Coke  with  which  he  was  accredited. 
He  had,  he  maintained,  long  thought  of  taking  the 
title  of  Leicester  in  virtue  of  his  descent  from  Simon 
de  Montfort,  Earl  of  Leicester,  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury ;  in  short,  his  correspondence  sufficiently  proves 
that  in  this  matter  he  was  the  unconscious  tool  of  Pitt 
and  was  innocent  of  all  complicity  in,  or  suspicion  of, 
the  Minister's  private  desire  to  annoy  Coke.1 

Possibly  in  consequence  of  this  episode,  even  more 
than  on  account  of  the  Minister's  general  policy,  Coke 
always  said  that  "he  could  not  call  Pitt  a  great  man, 
for  he  thought  him  a  little  one  in  all  the  actions  of  his 
life";2  nor  did  he  hesitate  to  state  emphatically  before 
Pitt  in  the  House:  "I  am  one  of  those  who  never 
reposed  any  confidence  in  the  Right  Honourable 
Gentleman  !  "3  But  that  Pitt,  on  the  contrary,  always 
entertained  a  profound  respect  for  Coke's  integrity 
is  certain.  Some  years  afterwards  he  paid  a  public 
testimony  to  it,  and  that  at  a  moment  when  such  an 
action  on  his  part  could  be  least  expected.  It  happened 
that  Coke,  exasperated  by  Pitt's  policy,  and  always 
disposed  to  frankness  rather  than  caution,  had,  in  the 
heat  of  debate,  been  completely  carried  away  by  his 
feelings.  He  had  made  a  violent  personal  attack  upon 
the  Minister;  and  upon  resuming  his  seat  and  reflecting 
upon  what  he  had  said,  he  felt  convinced  that  Pitt 
would,  and  with  some  reason,  make  a  severe  reply. 
To  his  astonishment,  however,  Pitt  rose  and  said 

1  It  is  curious  that  when  Coke  eventually  took  the  title  of  Earl  of 
Leicester  the  Tory  newspapers  accused  him  of  a  breach  of  good  taste 
towards  the  Townshends. 

2  Speech  at  Coke's  nomination,  August,  1830. 

3  Par.  Debates,  Vol.  XXIX,  p.  55. 


1784]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  CONTINUED  227 

quietly  :  "  I  can  put  up  with  anything  that  the  Honour- 
able Gentleman  may  be  pleased  to  say,  for  he  is  one  of 
the  very  few  of  his  party  who  have  never  asked  a  favour 
of  me."1 

But  whatever  the  power  of  Pitt's  opponents  in  the 
election  of  1784,  the  heart  of  the  country  was  with 
him.  The  Dissenters  and  liberal-minded  people  were 
favourably  disposed  towards  him  because  of  his  promise 
to  support  the  repeal  of  the  Test  and  Corporation  Acts. 
Further,  they  announced  that  they  would  support  no 
one  who  would  not  pledge  himself  to  repeal  these  Acts 
and  to  advocate  reform.  Coke's  enemies  were  fond  of 
asserting  that  he  would  oppose  all  Ministerial  measures 
whether  right  or  wrong.2  The  Dissenters,  therefore, 
decided  to  send  a  deputation,  headed  by  two  of  their 
leading  men,  to  wait  upon  him,  in  order  to  probe  his 
views  with  regard  to  this  matter,  and  to  require  from 
him  an  oath  that  he  would  support  the  cause  which 
they  had  at  heart,  whoever  the  Minister  might  be  who 
brought  it  forward. 

Now  on  this  question  Coke  sided  with  Pitt,  but  he 
did  not  believe  in  the  sincerity  of  the  Minister,  and  felt 
convinced  that  Pitt  would  never  carry  the  measure — a 
conviction  which  subsequent  events  justified.  Coke 
could,  moreover,  had  he  chosen,  have  reminded  the 
Dissenters  that  when  Sir  John  Rouse,  during  the  Shel- 
burne  Ministry,  had  moved  the  repeal  of  the  Test 
Acts — although  the  latter  was  a  strong  Tory,  and 
although  he  was  known  to  be  acting  under  the  bribe  of 
a  peerage  from  Lord  Shelburne — yet  he,  Coke,  while 

1  Recorded  in  the  notebook  of  the  Hon.  the  Rev.  T.  Keppel. 

2  See  Georgian  Era,  Vol.  IV,  p.  52. 


228  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1784 

disapproving  of  the  man,  had  unhesitatingly  voted  for 
the  measure.  But  in  view  of  the  absolute  consistency 
of  his  own  parliamentary  career,  and  the  manner  in 
which  he  had  always  put  principle  before  party,  he 
considered  the  question  of  the  Dissenters  insulting. 
His  only  reply  to  them  was  that  "  he  was  above  giving 
a  test,"  and  that  if  they  could  not  trust  him  without  a 
test  they  must  turn  him  out.  "  Moreover,"  as  he  sub- 
sequently commented  disdainfully,  i  1  only  Tories  give 
pledges,  and  why?  Because  they  do  not  hesitate  to 
break  them  ! " 

The  Dissenters  were  extremely  chagrined  at  his  frank 
contempt,  and  informed  him  pompously  that  under 
such  circumstances  they  could  not  support  him,  as 
they  believed  in  the  assurances  of  Mr.  Pitt,  who  was  a 
most  worthy  young  man.  "  I  did  not  refer  to  my  past 
political  conduct,"  Coke  said  afterwards;  "I  did  not 
condescend  to  recall  to  their  minds  my  political  senti- 
ments and  actions.  Nor  would  I  ever  condescend  to 
such  a  step.  God  forbid  that  I  should  be  driven  by 
means  so  repugnant  to  every  honest  man  !  What  was 
the  consequence?  I  was  rejected,  and  I  glory  in  being 
one  of  those  who  were  called  i  Fox's  Martyrs.'  I  was 
sacrificed,  and  three  or  four  other  determined  Whigs 
who  would  not  be  bullied  into  such  a  measure."1 

Up  to  the  last  the  preparations  for  the  election  went 
forward  undisturbed.  Forty  houses  were  engaged  in 
Norwich  for  the  friends  of  Sir  John  Wodehouse,  who 
were  to  meet  at  the  "  Maid's  Head  "  at  ten  for  breakfast, 
then  go  to  the  poll  and  back  to  dinner.  For  the  friends 
of  Sir  Edward  Astley  and  Mr.  Coke  fifty-five  houses 

1  Norwich  Mercury,  August  26th,  1830. 


1784]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  CONTINUED  229 

were  engaged  ;  but  final  arrangements  do  not  appear  to 
have  been  made  public  when  Coke,  to  quote  his  own 
words,  ' 1  made  his  bow  to  the  county,"  and  retiring 
from  the  contest,  left  the  way  clear  for  his  antagonist. 

In  so  doing,  he  attributed  the  loss  of  his  election, 
primarily,  to  the  conduct  of  Sir  Edward  Astley.  In  a 
letter  written  to  Jacob  Astley,  Esquire,  in  1789,  he 
refers  to  Sir  Edward's  conduct  at  the  last  election  as 
having  been  "the  sole  cause  of  throwing  me  out  of  the 
county,"  and  relates:  "I  bore  all  Sir  Edward's  ex- 
pences,  as  well  after  I  retired  as  before."  Some  idea 
of  those  expenses  may  be  gathered  by  the  receipts 
still  preserved,  which  show  that  to  innkeepers  in 
Norwich  Coke  paid  £746,  for  cockades  £115,  to  11  Chair- 
men, Marshallmen,  Stavesmen,  Riders,  Runners,  and 
Assistants  £160,"  etc.  ;  the  total  for  one  bill  connected 
with  this  election  representing  over  £2000.  All  ex- 
penses, however,  he  appears  to  have  settled  promptly 
by  cash  ;  a  feat  which  his  opponent  Wodehouse  was 
unable  to  perform. 

Wilson,  in  his  Biographical  Index  to  the  House  of 
Commons •,  says  :  "  In  the  springtime  of  his  popularity, 
Mr.  Coke,  notwithstanding  his  great  stake  in  the 
country,  lost  his  election  for  Norfolk."  This,  however, 
is  inaccurate,  for  Coke  retired  voluntarily  two  days 
before  the  poll. 

"I  retire,"  he  announced,  "from  a  contest  which 
is  likely  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  country  without 
producing  any  advantage  to  that  cause  in  which  I 
am  engaged.  The  shortness  of  the  interval  between 
the  day  of  nomination  and  the  day  of  election  was 
thought  insufficient  to  recover  the  effects  of  a 
canvass,  which,  it  now  appears,  had  begun  during 


230  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1784 


my  absence  in  town,  was  carried  on  without  my 
knowledge,  and  owed  much  of  its  success  to  an 
artifice  not  the  most  justifiable — the  pretence  of  a 
junction  between  my  late  worthy  colleague  and  my 
opponent." 

With  much  dignity  he  enumerated  the  part  he  had 
taken  in  Parliament. 

"  I  took,"  he  said,  "  a  distinguished  part  in  oppos- 
ing the  American  war  ;  I  gave  my  vote  most  heartily 
and  most  successfully  for  controlling  the  enormous 
influence  of  the  Crown ;  and  assisted  that  truly  con- 
stitutional measure  by  which  the  most  abused  power 
of  voting  was  taken  away  from  the  undeserving 
dependents  of  the  Crown." 

And  while  "Coke  the  Lord  of  Norfolk  shrank  before 
the  storm,"1  throughout  the  country  the  Whigs — Fox's 
Martyrs,  as  they  were  ironically  called — were  grievously 
defeated,  and  lost  160  seats.  Only  a  few  triumphs 
were  scored  by  the  adherents  of  the  Coalition  Cabinet : 
Windham  contested  Norwich  and  was  returned  by  a 
majority  of  64  votes,  while,  for  Norfolk,  Astley  was 
elected.    But  for  Coke  a  later  triumph  was  reserved. 

Some  years  afterwards,  walking  in  the  streets  of 
Yarmouth,  he  met  the  two  Dissenters  who  had  been 
sent  to  head  the  deputation  in  1784,  one  of  whom,  it 
may  be  mentioned,  bore  the  appropriate  name  of 
Mr.  Hurry.  They  tried  to  avoid  Coke,  but  he  stopped 
them.  ' 1  How  now ! "  he  said :  ' '  what  about  your  young 
friend,  Mr.  Pitt?  Has  he  not  proved  all  you  thought 
him  ?  "  Mr.  Hurry,  looking  considerably  embarrassed, 
replied  that  "  Mr.  Pitt  had  indeed  disappointed  them  ; 


1  Life  of  Pitt,  by  the  Right  Hon.  the  Earl  of  Rosebery,  ch.  Ill,  p.  56. 


1784]  EARLY  POLITICAL  LIFE  CONTINUED  231 

they  had  thought  him  a  young  man  who  would  fulfil 
his  promises ;  but  they  had,  apparently,  made  a  sad 
mistake." 

"A  mistake,"  rejoined  Coke,  " which  will  be  made 
by  all  who  pin  their  faith  on  Pledges" 


[1776- 


CHAPTER  XI 
SOCIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LIFE 

THERE  followed  the  only  break  which  oc- 
curred in  Coke's  long  parliamentary  career. 
Once  he  had  decided  that  he  was  justified  in 
retiring  from  the  contest,  it  was  with  a  sense 
of  unutterable  relief  that  he  turned  his  back  upon  the 
political  arena ;  and  although  always  active  in  the 
Whig  cause,  he  did  not  again  enter  upon  any  personal 
contest  for  a  space  of  six  years. 

We  must  now  turn  from  his  life  as  a  statesman  to  his 
life  as  a  private  individual  and  a  great  landowner. 

During  the  eight  years  which  had  passed  since  he  came 
into  possession  of  Holkham  his  private  existence  had 
been  happy  and  comparatively  uneventful.  One  tragedy 
only  appears  to  have  darkened  it.  To  the  nimble  pen 
of  Lady  Mary  Coke  we  are  indebted  for  the  information. 
Sunday,  December  ist,  1776,  she  writes: — 

"Did  you  hear  that  my  cousin  Mrs.  Coke  was 
brought  to  bed  of  a  dead  son,  occasioned  by  a  fright ; 
a  mouse  got  into  her  nightcap  and  demolished  the 
heir  to  Holkham."1 

In  those  days  a  lady's  hair,  profusely  decorated  with 
pomatum  and  powder,  was  worn  strained  over  a  big 
triangular  cushion  with  large  curls  pendant  on  either 

1  From  the  still  unprinted  Journal  of  Lady  Mary  Coke. 
232 


-i8i8]  SOCIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LIFE  233 

side ;  the  higher  this  erection,  the  more  fashionable  it 
was  considered  ;  and  since  the  labour  required  to  rear 
a  sufficiently  elaborate  coiffure  was  great,  an  enormous 
cap — attached  to  the  head  by  no  less  than  twenty-four 
large  black  pins,  double  and  single — was  worn  at  night 
to  envelop  and  preserve  it  intact  for  the  next  day.  It 
was  no  unusual  event  for  a  mouse,  tempted  by  a  prospec- 
tive meal  of  pomatum  and  powder,  to  attempt  to  creep 
into  a  nightcap  ;  and,  if  it  once  succeeded  in  entering 
the  vast  structure  of  hair  without  becoming  impaled 
upon  the  long  pins,  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  oust  it ; 
often  this  could  not  be  accomplished  until  the  whole 
head-dress  had  been  pulled  down.  In  days  when  ladies 
fainted  at  the  mere  sight  of  a  mouse,  their  terror  at 
such  an  adventure  must  have  been  great ;  and,  in  this 
instance,  its  result  was  not  only  disastrous,  but  far- 
reaching.  As  the  years  passed  by,  no  other  son  was 
born  to  Coke.  Two  daughters  were  born,  Jane  Elizabeth, 
afterwards  the  beautiful  Lady  Andover,  born  on 
December  22nd,  1777  ;  and,  just  over  a  year  later,  on 
January  25th,  1779,  Anne  Margaret,  who  afterwards 
became  Lady  Anson  ;  but  still  no  heir  replaced  the  one 
who  had  been  thus  untimely  4 'demolished," — the  destiny 
of  Holkham  had  been  decided  by  a  mouse  !  Therefore, 
when  in  1793  a  son  was  born  to  Coke's  brother,  Edward, 
he  was  accepted  as  heir-presumptive  to  Holkham,  and 
not  only  was  he  named  Thomas  William  after  his  uncle, 
but,  like  him,  was  brought  up  at  Longford,  Coke  having 
generously  lent  that  house  to  his  brother  for  the  latter's 
lifetime. 

Debarred  from  having  a  son,  the  great  aim  of  Mrs. 
Coke's  life  became  the  education  of  her  two  daughters. 
Herself  clever,  well  read  and  gifted  with  a  shrewd 


234  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 


insight,  she  was  exceptionally  fitted  for  the  task.  The 
few  letters  from  her  still  in  existence  are  written  in  a 
firm,  clear  hand,  full  of  character  and  determination, 
while  those  published  in  current  biographies  are 
remarkable  for  their  fluency  of  expression  and  the 
literary  knowledge  which  they  reveal.  In  1785,  when 
Dr.  Parr1  presented  her  with  his  "  Discourse  on  Educa- 
tion," she  wrote  to  him  with  enthusiasm  : — 

"  I  have  read  your  Discourse  upon  Education 
with  the  utmost  attention,  and  with  that  eager  desire 
of  information  which  a  parent  may  be  supposed  to 
possess,  who  has  for  seven  years  directed  much  serious 
thought  to  this  most  important  object;  for  having 
only  daughters,  the  pleasing  task  of  their  instruction 

becomes    my    province  What  stamps  the 

highest  value  on  your  opinions  in  my  mind,  is  this, 
that  they  are  not  mere  assertions,  but  the  result  of 
many  years'  extensive  experience,  as  well  as  much 
profound  meditation,  and  diligent  researches  into  the 
labour  of  other  men.  .  .  .  Whereas  Rousseau,  and 
several  authors  I  have  perused,  who  have  treated  this 
subject,  not  possessing  the  superior  advantage  of 
experience,  only  serve  to  lead  astray  by  plausible 
theories,  which  are  undoubtedly  not  practicable." 

She  further  remarks  how  happy  she  is  in  having 
Parr's  authority  "  in  opposition  to  the  fashionable 
doctrines  of  scepticism,  that  religion  is  the  surest 
foundation  on  which  we  can  raise  moral  virtue  in 
either  sex  ";  and  she  proffers  the  anxious  inquiry — 
"  Pardon  the  liberty  I  take  in  requesting  to  be  informed 
whether  you  think  Johnson's  Dictionary  the  best 
standard  for  the  unlearned  to  consult  concerning 
orthography  and  pronunciation?"  In  conclusion, 
she  begs  that  Dr.  Parr  will  come  to  Holkham  in  order 

1  Dr.  Samuel  Parr,  LL.D. 


-i8i8]  SOCIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LIFE  235 

"  to  judge  how  far  I  have  been  able  to  put  into  practice 
with  respect  to  my  children,  a  system  of  education  I 
profess  so  entirely  to  approve  "  ;  though,  she  laments, 
"  if  they  had  been  sons,  it  would  have  been  my  earnest 
wish  not  to  confine  my  approbation  of  your  excellent 
system  to  the  barren  tribute  of  my  poor  praise." 

The  learned  Doctor's  verdict  has  not  survived,  but 
doubtless  it  was  all  that  her  heart  desired  ;  for  her 
children  amply  repaid  the  care  which,  from  the 
earliest  days,  she  bestowed  upon  them  ;  though  this 
must  be  attributed  as  much  to  the  fact  that  they 
inherited  her  ability,  as  to  her  judicious  superintendence 
of  their  education.  And  that  sound  judgment  which 
she  brought  to  bear  upon  the  training  of  her  daughters, 
stood  her  likewise  in  good  stead  in  her  social  relation- 
ships. In  the  fading  legends  which  still  cling  round 
the  life  at  Holkham  during  those  early  days  of  Coke's 
ownership,  his  young  wife  stands  out  a  figure  full  of 
dignity  and  charm.  The  tales  of  her  which  still  linger 
in  Norfolk  all  hint  at  the  admiration  she  inspired ; — how 
she  was  a  fearless  and  a  matchless  rider  ;  how  at  Court 
her  dancing  of  the  Minuet  de  la  Cour  was  celebrated 
for  its  grace  ;  how  at  the  hustings,  as  we  have  seen, 
her  influence  was  feared,  since  she  won  all  hearts,  and 
changed  the  fierce  antagonism  of  adverse  voters  into 
an  enthusiasm  equally  uproarious  ;  and  how  she  was, 
withal,  a  woman  of  pity  and  gentleness,  charitable 
to  the  poor,  constant  in  doing  good  and  gracious  to 
all.  "  Mrs.  Coke,"  we  are  told,  "does  from  good 
nature  and  an  ardent  desire  of  pleasing  what  others  do 
from  vanity  or  politeness." 1 

1  The  Girlhood  of  Maria  Josepha  Holroyd,  ed.  by  J.  H.  Adeane. 
(1896),  p.  255. 


236  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

Moreover,  she  threw  herself  with  tireless  energy 
into  all  schemes  and  endeavours  for  the  betterment  of 
mankind.  Much  she  accomplished  for  Norwich.  The 
papers  of  the  day  speak  of  her  "  constant  and  spirited 
endeavours  to  promote  and  extend  manufactures  in  the 
neighbourhood."  Amongst  other  industries,  Norwich 
was  at  that  time  striving  to  start  the  manufacture  of 
" shawl-dresses,"  made  from  a  material  resembling 
Paisley  or  Indian  shawls,  which  was  fashioned  into 
costumes.  Young  Mrs.  Coke  at  once  saw  that  some  of 
the  rich  and  delicate-coloured  "  shawl-dresses  "  would 
make  lovely  tapestries  for  walls  and  couches,  so,  we 
read,  she  gave  instructions  "to  fit  up  part  of  her 
elegant  mansion  at  Holkham  with  this  beautiful 
article,"  and  thus  established  an  industry  for  which 
Norwich  afterwards  became  famous. 

Only  here  and  there,  however,  do  isolated  events 
loom  out  of  the  oblivion  which  enshrouds  the  life  at 
Holkham  during  those  early  days.  Legends  likewise 
still  cling  round  the  memory  of  the  young  Squire  of 
that  date.  His  lavish  hospitality,  the  princely  state 
in  which  he  lived  and  the  independence  of  speech 
and  action  for  which  he  soon  became  noted,  form  the 
subject  of  many  tales — always  interesting  as  showing 
the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held — though  often,  un- 
doubtedly, apocryphal.  Old  men  in  Norwich  still  relate 
how,  in  the  days  of  their  boyhood,  their  fathers  told 
them  that  Mr.  Coke  had  his  horses  shod  with  shoes  of 
gold,  and  had  wheels  of  solid  silver  for  his  chariot, 
which  wheels  (it  is  firmly  believed)  are  still  preserved 
in  the  hall  at  Holkham.  Another,  but  far  from  im- 
probable legend,  tells  how,  knowing  that  it  was  in- 


-i8i8]  SOCIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LIFE  237 

admissible  for  any  one  save  Royalty  to  drive  six  horses 
in  town,  he  drove  a  coach  with  five  horses  and  a 
donkey  as  leader  past  the  King's  palace  in  London, 
and  flicked  his  whip  at  George  III  as  he  whipped  the 
donkey  gaily  up  to  pace.  His  daring,  his  individuality, 
his  openness  of  hand  and  heart,  soon  won  him  golden 
opinions  amongst  the  tenants  who,  accustomed  to  the 
sober  rule  of  his  immediate  predecessors,  had  been  pre- 
pared to  look  askance  at  the  reign  of  their  gay  successor. 

Very  quickly  was  Holkham  transformed  from  what 
it  had  been  in  the  days  when  Lady  Leicester  lived  there 
in  dreary  state.  It  speedily  became  the  pivot  round 
which  all  the  social  life  of  the  county  revolved.  The 
young  couple  lived  in  full  enjoyment  of  local  society 
in  Norfolk,  to  which  they  greatly  contributed,  and  of 
society  in  London  when  parliamentary  duties  entailed 
their  journeying  to  town.  At  Holkham  they  kept  open 
house,  and  before  long,  men  from  every  part  of  the 
world  and  representing  every  form  of  celebrity  and 
every  rank  in  life  were  made  welcome  there  with  un- 
stinting hospitality.  Coke  soon  became  known  as  a 
delightful  host,  considerate,  unassuming  and  agree- 
able ;  while  he  made  a  point  of  treating  every  guest,  no 
matter  of  what  rank,  with  the  strictest  impartiality.  It 
soon  became  a  favourite  saying  amongst  his  friends 
that  "to  Coke,  prince  and  peasant  are  equal."1  He 

1  To  the  last  day  of  his  life  this  was  his  unchangeable  characteristic. 
"It  is  certainly  a  strong-  trait  in  the  character  of  the  Earl's  manners 
that  from  the  Prince  to  the  Peasant,  every  visitor  on  leaving-  Holkham 
dwelt  on  the  reception  he  had  received  from  the  Master  of  the  House, 
and  imagined  himself  the  favoured  guest.  .  .  .  His  manners  were  indeed 
the  finest,  for  they  were  based  on  benignity  of  heart "  (Obituary  notice, 
Norwich  Mercury,  July  9th,  1842). 


238  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

himself,  in  later  life,  always  declared  that  he  would  as 
soon  meet  a  party  of  his  yeomen  as  any  men  in  the 
world.  But  from  the  first  he  took  his  own  line  and 
refused  to  court  popularity.  One  of  his  earliest  innova- 
tions created  much  comment.  Since  old  Lady  Leicester's 
time,  the  poor  had  attended  at  Holkham  after  every 
public  day  to  receive  the  broken  meat,  a  custom  which 
had  become  abused  by  every  vagrant  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. Although  Coke  continued  to  keep  open  house 
on  one  day  in  the  week,  he  promptly  put  an  end  to  the 
subsequent  promiscuous  distribution  of  food  to  beggars, 
despite  the  violent  resentment  and  unpopularity  to 
which  such  an  action  was  sure  to  give  rise.  In  fact, 
Dick  Merryfellow  at  once  made  a  note  of  it,  and  wrote 
a  fresh  verse  about  "  Sir  Growl  " — 

His  dogs  are  from  his  table  fed — the  poor 
Are  driven  like  slaves  from  his  luxurious  door  ! 

One  curious  custom,  however,  which  probably  dated 
from  the  days  of  Lord  Leicester,  prevailed  for  many 
years  after  Coke  came  into  possession  of  Holkham. 
The  coaches  still  continued  to  call  at  the  house  twice  a 
day  to  deliver  and  to  fetch  the  mail,  and  every  passenger 
who  journeyed  by  them  was  allowed  to  ask  for  a  glass 
of  ale  gratis,  at  the  Hall,  from  servants  who  were  in 
attendance  daily  for  the  purpose.  The  amount  of  ale 
thus  consumed  in  the  course  of  a  year  was  great,  but 
besides  the  strangers  whom  chance  brought  thus  daily 
to  partake  of  this  apparently  trifling  hospitality,  Coke 
had  a  constant  influx  of  visitors  who  desired  to  see  the 
house  privately,  or  who  attended  the  luncheon  upon  the 
public  day.    Among  others,  the  year  after  he  succeeded 


THE  HALL  i  |, 


-i8i8]  SOCIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LIFE  239 

his  father,  Hannah  More,  driving  through  Norfolk  with 

friends,  wrote  to  ask  permission  to  see  the  house  and 

grounds.    She  did  not  see  Coke  personally,  but  in 

a  letter  she  mentions  her  impressions  of  the  place, 

which  have  an  interest  considering  the  early  date  at 

which  she  wrote  : — 

"The  next  place  worthy  of  consideration  is  Holk- 
ham  Hall,  the  residence  of  the  present  Mr.  Coke, 
and  built  by  the  late  Lord  Leicester.  It  is  entirely  of 
white  brick,  and  take  it  for  inside  and  outside,  state 
and  commodiousness,  beauty  and  elegance,  I  have 
never  seen  anything  comparable  to  it.  The  pictures 
are  many  and  charming  ;  some  exquisite  Guidos, 
particularly  St.  Catherine,  and  a  Cupid,  inexpres- 
sibly fine.  There  are  some  admirable  statues,  a 
number  of  antiques,  and  some  of  the  finest  drapery 
I  ever  saw.  There  is  a  hall  of  pink-veined  marble 
of  immense  size,  superior  to  anything  of  the  kind  in 
this  nation  :  round  it  is  a  colonnade  of  pink  and 
white  marble  fluted.1 

When  any  alterations  to  the  design  of  the  house  were 
proposed  to  Coke,  he  replied  unhesitatingly  :  "I  shall 
never  venture  rashly  to  interfere  with  the  result  of  years 
of  thought  and  study  in  Italy"  ;  and  thus  it  was  due  to 
his  good  sense  that  the  original  harmony  and  peculiarity 
of  the  building  were  preserved  intact.  But  he  early 
decided  to  enclose  his  estate  of  43,000  acres  with  a  ring 
fence,  and  he  began  building  a  wall  round  his  park  ; 
though  this  was  not  actually  finished  till  September 
24th,  1839,  when  it  measured  nine  miles  less  twenty 
yards  in  length.2 

1  Memoirs  of  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Mrs.  H.  More,  by  William 
Roberts.    Third  ed.  (1835),  Vol-  I,  PP-  102-3. 

*  Part  of  the  wood  which  formed  the  original  paling-  placed  by 
Thomas  Coke  round  his  park,  was  used  to  frame  some  Hogarth  prints, 
which  still  hang  on  the  walls  at  Longford. 


240  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

It  was  said  that  the  house  had  been  planned  to  be  safe 
from  fire ;  and  very  early  Coke  had  it  carefully  in- 
spected with  a  view  to  discovering  if  this  were  indeed 
the  case.  As  a  result  it  was  pronounced  fire-proof,  and 
it  has  therefore  never  been  insured.  Although  it  has 
been  on  fire  three  times  since  those  days,  only  superficial 
damage  to  furniture  has  ensued. 

Soon  after  Coke  came  into  possession  of  Holkham  he 
was  asked  to  belong  to  a  club  called  the  "  Gregorians," 
which  flourished  in  Norwich  about  this  date.  It  was 
at  first  instituted  for  social  purposes,  but  afterwards 
assumed  more  of  a  political  character.  It  had  its  special 
ceremonies,  signs  and  insignia,  and  was,  perhaps,  the 
resort  of  more  of  the  county  gentlemen  than  have  ever 
before  or  since  mixed  with  the  citizens  of  Norwich.  The 
annual  advertisement  for  the  choice  of  officers  for  the 
year  1778  announces  Coke  as  President  of  the  meeting. 
The  chief  patron  was  Sir  Edward  Astley,  and  he 
usually  occupied  the  position  of  host,  for  there  was  no 
one  so  celebrated  for  his  qualities  as  a  chairman  and  a 
boon  companion.  On  July  19th,  1779,  we  find  that  the 
Gregorians  were  invited  in  a  body  to  Holkham  by 
Coke,  and  there  partook  of  the  most  sumptuous  hospi- 
tality. 

Many  curious  anecdotes  are  told  of  this  club  illus- 
trative of  the  manners  of  the  times  and  of  the 
habits  of  drinking.  The  first  time  when  Coke  visited 
it,  at  about  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  toasts  swim- 
ming in  oil  were  set  on  the  table,  and  Sir  Edward 
Astley  pressed  him  to  eat.  Coke  inquired  the  cause 
of  such  an  unusual  refection,  and  was  told  that  the 
toast  would  enable  him  to  begin  drinking  afresh 


-i8i8]  SOCIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LIFE  241 

as  if  he  had  taken  no  wine  from  the  beginning  of  the 
evening.1 

On  another  occasion,  at  about  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  the  party  had  dwindled  to  six  in  number,  and 
these  tried  to  discover  some  striking  way  in  which  to 
end  the  revels  of  the  night.  All  around  the  room  was 
placed  a  row  of  strongly-fixed  iron  cloak  pins,  and 
upon  these  they  hung  their  chairs,  mounted  into  them, 
and  then  rang  the  bell.  The  waiter  arriving  in  answer 
to  the  summons  was  astounded  to  find  the  company 
apparently  transfixed  to  the  wall,  where  they  sat  abso- 
lutely silent  and  immovable,  like  statues.  But  the  poor 
fellow's  terror  at  this  unexpected  sight  was  too  much 
for  one  of  the  revellers.  Sir  Peter  Amyot,  who  was  a 
very  heavy  man,  was  racked  with  such  fearful  paroxysms 
of  suppressed  laughter  that  the  pins  which  supported 
him  gave  way,  and  he  broke  the  spell  by  falling  to  the 
ground  with  a  resounding  crash.  The  terrified  waiter 
fled  from  the  room,  and  the  company  descending  from 
their  seats  with  difficulty,  assisted  their  stout  companion 
to  regain  his  feet  amid  peals  of  uproarious  laughter. 

At  intervals  in  the  papers  of  this  date  there  appear 
notices  of  entertainments  promoted  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Coke,  which  often  took  the  form  of  private  theatricals. 
In  1779,  on  the  anniversary  of  their  wedding  day, 
October  5th,  there  is  an  advertisement  of  a  play — "  The 
Clandestine  Marriage  and  the  Padlock"2 — a  significant 
title  considering  the  event  which  it  was  presumably 
destined  to  celebrate.  This  play  was  "  bespoke  "  by 
themat  the  theatre,  Walsingham,  a  neighbouring  village, 

1  Drinking  oil  will  prevent  the  fumes  of  wine  rising  to  the  brain. 

2  Written  by  Colman  the  elder  and  Garrick,  about  1766. 

I— R 


242  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

to  be  performed  by  a  company  of  comedians  styling 
themselves  the  "  Leicester  Company." 

Another  fashionable  amusement,  which  had  not  fallen 
into  disfavour  in  Norfolk  since  the  days  of  Lord 
Leicester,  was  cock-fighting,  but  in  this,  however,  there 
is  no  evidence  that  Coke  took  part.  Yet  it  is  curious  to 
note  that,  at  that  date,  the  tenants  at  Holkham  had 
to  give  two  fighting-cocks  with  their  rent — a  payment 
which  in  modern  times  is  changed  to  turkeys. 

A  sport,  however,  in  which  Coke  certainly  indulged, 
and  which  found  great  favour  locally,  was  bull-baiting. 
In  Beer  Street,  Norwich,  there  was  a  place  for  this 
amusement,  of  which  Coke  and  his  neighbour  Lord 
Albemarle1  became  patrons.  George,  Lord  Albemarle, 
relates  how  their  bull  was  never  known  to  have  been 
"pinned,"  and  how,  one  day,  a  farmer  who  had  seen 
a  number  of  dogs  tossed  in  succession,  called  out, 
"  Lawk  !  it's  like  batting  at  cricket !  "2 

It  is  all  the  more  curious  to  find  Coke  the  patron  of 
such  a  sport  because,  both  in  early  and  in  later  life,  he 
was  noted  for  being  a  singularly  humane  man,  who 
was  opposed  to  cruelty  in  any  recognised  form.  But  at 
that  date  it  was  considered  as  unreasonable  to  object 
to  bull-baiting  as  it  is  still  to  object  to  fox-hunting. 
Windham,  writing  to  Captain  Lukin  in  1801,  expresses 
this  opinion:  "I  should  rejoice  in  your  bull-baiting," 
he  says,  "if  I  could  rejoice  in  anything.  I  defy  a 
person  to  attack  bull-baiting  and  to  defend  hunting  " — 
a  point  of  view  which  modern  huntsmen  may  find  less 

1  William  Charles,  fourth  Earl  of  Albemarle  (1772-1849). 

2  Fifty  Years  of  my  Life.  By  George  Thomas,  sixth  Earl  of  Albe- 
marle, Vol.  I,  p.  324. 


-i8i8]   SOCIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LIFE  243 

palatable  than  easy  to  disprove.  It  was  not  till  1835 
that  this  amusement  was  made  illegal  in  England. 

As  we  have  seen,  Coke  early  became  M.F.H.  He 
soon  engaged  a  huntsman  named  William  Jones,  who 
became  a  celebrated  character  in  Norfolk,  and  was  con- 
sidered the  best  man  of  his  class  in  the  kingdom.  The 
pack  was  reputed  to  be  so  skilfully  managed,  so  judi- 
ciously hunted  and  so  well  ridden  up  to.  Before  long, 
Coke's  hunting  country  extended  through  a  great  part 
of  Norfolk,  and  he  had  kennels  in  Suffolk,  Cambridge, 
and  Essex.  He  was  said  to  hunt  the  entire  country 
from  Holkham  to  Epping  Forest ;  for  when  he  found 
that  his  parliamentary  duties  precluded  the  possibility 
of  his  enjoying  the  sport  in  those  districts,  he  built 
a  kennel  near  Mark  Hall,  in  Essex,  the  seat  of  his 
friend  Montague  Burgoyne,  and  he  hunted  the  whole 
country  round  Epping,  where  he  could  run  down  from 
town  about  four  times  a  week.  On  one  occasion  he 
killed  a  fox  with  his  own  hounds  in  Russell  or  Bedford 
Square.1 

Epping  Place  may  be  said  to  have  been  the  centre  of 
his  operations  ;  and  there  was  in  those  days  a  cele- 
brated Irish  giant,  O'Brien  or  O'Bryne,  who  came  to 
live  there  solely  for  the  sake  of  joining  Mr.  Coke's 
hounds  whenever  he  allowed  himself  any  recreation. 

1  In  a  letter  from  the  late  Lord  Digby  to  Mr.  Henry  Coke,  January  7th, 
1883,  this  statement  was  confirmed.  Lord  Digby  says:  "My  grand- 
father (Thomas  William  Coke)  killed  a  fox  with  his  own  hounds  either  in 
Bedford  or  Russell  Square.  Old  Jones  the  huntsman,  who  died  at  Holkham 
when  you  were  a  child,  was  my  informant.  I  asked  my  grandfather  if  it 
was  correct ;  he  said,  'Yes,  he  had  kennels  at  Epping  Forest,  and  hunted 
the  Roodings  of  Essex,  which  he  said  was  the  best  hunting  ground  in 
England.'" — Tracks  of  a  Rolling  Stone.  By  the  Hon.  Henry  Coke 
C^),  P-  33 


244  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 
O'Brien  was  eight  feet  high  in  1780,  and  apparently 
went  on  growing,  for  in  1782  he  measured  two  inches 
more,  and  after  his  death  in  1783  he  was  found  to 
measure  eight  feet  four  inches,  yet  no  other  members 
of  his  family  were  unusually  tall.  He  was  crazy  about 
hunting,  and  became  so  attached  to  Jones,  Mr.  Coke's 
huntsman,  that  he  paid  the  latter  a  visit  at  Holkham, 
and  was  there  solemnly  introduced  by  Jones  to  Mr. 
Coke  and  his  guests. 

O'Brien's  end  was  curious.  With  extreme  simplicity 
he  invested  all  his  property  in  a  single  bank-note  of 
£700,  which,  needless  to  say,  he  lost ;  and  grief  at  his 
loss,  combined  with  excessive  drinking,  brought  about 
his  death.  John  Hunter,  the  celebrated  surgeon,  was 
extremely  anxious  to  secure  his  skeleton  ;  and  learning 
that  the  giant  was  dying,  he  set  his  men  to  watch  the 
house  in  order  to  be  sure  of  getting  the  body.  O'Brien 
hearing  of  this,  and  having  a  horror  of  being  dissected, 
left  orders  that  his  corpse  should  be  watched  night  and 
day  until  a  lead  coffin  could  be  made,  in  which  it  was 
to  be  conveyed  to  the  Downs  and  sunk  in  twenty 
fathoms  of  water.  O'Brien  died,  and  his  body  started 
for  the  Nore,  escorted  by  a  walking  wake  of  thirty 
Irishmen  who  drank  deeply  at  the  hostelries  en  route, 
Howison,  Hunter's  man,  who  watched  closely,  informed 
the  surgeon  when  he  might  catch  this  bodyguard  off 
duty  at  the  public-house,  and  Hunter  went  thither  to 
bribe  them.  He  offered  fifty  guineas  to  one  of  the  men 
to  allow  the  body  to  be  kidnapped,  and  the  man  con- 
sented on  his  own  account,  but  said  he  must  first  con- 
sult with  his  companions,  who,  perceiving  Hunter's 
eagerness,  raised  their  price,  first  to  £100,  and  finally 


-i8i8]   SOCIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LIFE  245 

to  £500  before  they  would  agree.  Hunter  borrowed 
the  money  to  pay  them,  and  the  coffin  consequently 
went  on  its  way  rilled  with  stones,  while  the  body  of  the 
dead  giant  journeyed  back  to  London  in  a  spring  cart, 
until  John  Hunter's  own  carriage  met  it,  after  dark, 
and  drove  it  to  his  house  in  Earl's  Court.  There,  for 
fear  of  detection,  he  did  not  dare  to  dissect  it ;  but 
separating  the  flesh  from  the  bones  by  boiling  and  cut- 
ting, quickly  skeletonised  it.  Hence,  in  the  Museum 
of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  may  be  seen,  to- 
day, the  skeleton — brown  from  boiling — of  the  giant 
whose  greatest  joy  when  living  was  a  gallop  with 
Mr.  Coke's  hounds  and  the  friendship  of  Mr.  Coke's 
huntsman. 

Jones,  it  may  be  here  mentioned,  lived  to  the  age  of 
ninety,  having  spent  all  his  life  in  the  service  of  Mr. 
Coke,  who  delighted  in  cheering  the  last  days  of  his  old 
and  respected  servant  by  paying  him  constant  visits,  and 
living  over  with  him  the  memorable  hunts  of  former 
days.  Jones,  in  fact,  survived  until  1827,  when  Coke's 
two  eldest  baby-sons  were  taken  by  their  father  to  see 
him.  The  old  man's  one  grief  was — as  he  expressed  it — 
"that  the  young  ladies  had  not  been  the  young  gentle- 
men," meaning  that  the  daughters  of  Mr.  Coke's  first 
marriage  had  not  been  the  sons  of  his  second,  in  order 
that  he,  Jones,  might  have  had  the  pleasure  of  training 
them  to  follow  the  hunt. 

Jones's  mind  was  clear  to  the  last,  and  he  died 
surrounded  by  three  generations  of  his  family,  who 
revered  him  as  a  father  and  a  patriarch.  Coke  always 
described  him,  not  only  as  the  best  of  huntsmen  and 
the  first  of  sportsmen,  but  also  as  one  of  Nature's 


246  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

gentlemen,  who  won  the  respect  of  the  field  wherever 
he  went  by  the  perfect  courtesy  of  his  manners. 

Coke's  passion  for  field  sports,  which  had  served  as  a 
telling  argument  for  prophesying  his  failure  as  a  poli- 
tician, further  furnished  reason  for  anticipating  his 
incapacity  as  a  landlord.  His  tenants,  however  willing 
to  be  cajoled  by  his  * '  elegant  and  engaging  address" 
of  which  we  are  constantly  informed,  remained  dubious 
regarding  the  wisdom  of  a  youth  whose  first  aim  had 
been  to  increase  the  breed  of  foxes.  Dick  Merryfellow 
but  gave  voice  to  a  prevalent  opinion  when  he  pro- 
nounced Coke's  ' ' hounds  and  horses"  to  be  "his 
delight  alone."  In  a  song  sung  by  Coke's  friends  at  the 
big  hunting  breakfasts  at  Holkham,  he  is  described  as  : 

Attentive  and  civil  till  Reynard  is  found, 

Then  hears  nor  sees  ought  but  the  head  leading  hound.1 

The  young  Squire  appeared,  even  to  those  who  knew 
him  best,  too  full  of  that  joie  de  vivre  for  which  he  was 
conspicuous,  to  curtail  his  pleasures,  or  to  take  his 
duties  as  a  landowner  seriously.  Moreover,  if  his  Nor- 
folk estates  were  poor,  he  had  property  in  other  parts 
of  England,  he  had  money  in  plenty  to  gratify  every 
whim,  and  beyond  an  amiable  desire  that  those  under 
him  should  be  justly  dealt  by,  little,  it  was  felt,  could 
be  anticipated  from  the  rule  of  a  light-hearted  youth, 
whose  whole  soul  appeared  to  be  absorbed  in  a  spor 
which  found  small  favour  with  the  farmers  upon  his 
estate. 

But  another  passion  as  powerful  as  that  of  sport,  of 

1  A  song  of  Mr.  Cokes  Hunt,  by  the  Rev.  Dixon  Hoste. 


-i8i8]  SOCIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LIFE  247 
which,  indeed,  it  formed  part,  operated  to  counteract 
what  it  appeared  calculated  only  to  develop.  Coke's 
love  of  the  country  has  before  been  dwelt  upon  ;  it 
formed  one  of  the  strongest  characteristics  of  his 
nature,  surpassed,  perhaps,  only  by  that  love  of  plain- 
speaking  and  honest  dealing  which  had  forced  him 
against  his  inclination  to  stand  his  ground  in  current 
politics.  The  fresh,  clear  Norfolk  air  held  an  elixir  for 
him  which  dwellers  in  the  south  can  scarcely  appreciate ; 
it  stimulated  every  sense,  it  whipped  brain  and  soul 
into  a  keener  life  ;  it  meant  health,  it  meant  happiness. 
Windham,  from  his  wooded  hill-top  at  Felbrigg,  com- 
plained that  London  asphyxiated  him,  and  pleaded 
earnestly  in  Parliament  for  open  spaces  and  parks  to 
form  "the  lungs  of  London."  Coke,  from  his  bleaker 
and  wind-swept  home  upon  the  coast,  suffered  mentally 
as  well  as  physically  when  forced  to  forego  the  clean, 
free  life  which  exhilarated  brain  and  body. 

"  For  myself,"  he  said  in  one  of  his  speeches  to 
his  constituents  at  Holkham,  "I  should  not  be 
worthy  of  your  confidence  did  I  not  speak  my  senti- 
ments in  a  bold,  manly  and  independent  manner. 
I  should  not  wish  to  be  your  representative,  nor  do  I 
desire  to  be  so  one  day  longer  than  my  conduct 
deserves  your  approbation.  I  love  the  country,  and 
I  love  liberty,  and  am  always  impatient  to  get  home  ! 
I  suffer  I  know  not  what,  cooped  within  the  pestiferous 
walls  of  that  House  which  should  be  purified  by 
virtue  and  patriotism.  Here  I  breathe  salubrious 
air,  but  there  I  am  stifled  by  corruption.  So  glad  am 
I  to  get  home,  that  in  three  days  I  am  as  well  as  ever, 
and  I  could  wish  that  each  day  was  as  long  as  two  I"1 

1  A  Report  of  the  Transactions  at  the  Holkham  Sheep-shearing  (1821), 
by  R.  N.  Bacon,  p.  75. 


248  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [t7?6- 

And  this  very  passion  for  the  freedom  and  purity  of 
the  country  obviously  predisposed  him  to  an  interest  in 
every  phase  of  rural  life  ;  so  that,  in  his  early  boyish 
delight  in  country  pursuits  lay,  unsuspected,  the  root  of 
his  future  renown.  While  his  exuberant  health  made 
him  a  sportsman,  and  duty  made  him  a  politician,  it 
was  inclination  that  made  him  a  farmer.  Politics  for 
ever  remained  outside  his  natural  bent — the  toll  he  paid 
to  circumstance — but  from  rural  sport  to  rural  toil  was 
an  almost  inevitable  sequence  to  one  of  his  disposition. 
When  as  an  old  man  he  retired  from  the  political  arena, 
he  explained  :  "  Though  I  have  stood  forward  for  the 
situation  which  I  have  occupied,  I  may  state  that  it  is  a 
duty  I  never  liked."  Again  and  again  in  his  political 
speeches  he  points  out  how  "the  peaceful  pursuit  of 
agriculture  has  always  been  much  more  my  happiness 
than  the  turbulence  of  politics."  It  is  as  an  agriculturist 
rather  than  as  a  politician  that  Coke  must  be  remem- 
bered ;  yet  even  so,  and  with  all  his  tastes  ripe  for  such 
a  development,  it  was  chance  which  actually  decided 
his  career,  and  caused  him  to  turn  his  indomitable 
energy  and  perseverance  in  this  direction.  f 

A  large  part  of  the  Holkham  estate,  it  will  be  re- 
membered, was  originally  salt  marshes  on  the  coast  of 
the  North  Sea.  In  1660  John  Coke,  son  of  the  Lord 
Chief  Justice,  had  reclaimed  360  acres  from  the  sea, 
and  in  1722  Thomas  Coke,  afterwards  Lord  Leicester, 
had  reclaimed  400  acres  and  had  struggled  to  improve 
the  barren  sweep  of  country.  Yet  when  Coke  came 
into  the  property,  the  whole  district  round  Holkham 
was  little  better  than  a  rabbit-warren,  varied  by  long 
tracts  of  shingle  and  drifting  sand,  on  which  vegetation, 


-i8i8]   SOCIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LIFE  249 

other  than  weeds,  was  impossible.  Soon  after  Coke's 
marriage,  when  Mrs.  Coke  remarked  that  she  was  going 
down  to  Norfolk,  the  witty  old  Lady  Townshend1  made 
a  comment  which  was  ever  afterwards  quoted  as  a 
most  perfect  description  of  the  county: — "Then,  my 
dear,"  she  said,  "all  you  will  see  will  be  one  blade  of 
grass,  and  two  rabbits  fighting  for  that !  "  And  such, 
we  may  imagine,  must  have  been  Mrs.  Coke's  first 
impression  of  her  future  home.  Beautiful  as  was  the 
interior  of  Holkham,  externally,  we  have  seen,  its  sur- 
roundings were  exceptionally  unattractive.  The  park, 
as  yet  sparsely  timbered,  exhibited  plantations  which 
were  still  immature,  the  lake  near  the  house  ebbed  and 
flowed  daily  with  the  tides  from  the  salt  marshes,  and 
the  country  beyond  lay  exposed  in  its  native  bleak- 
ness— a  country  which,  here  and  there  scantily  culti- 
vated, could  boast  farming  only  of  the  most  primitive 
type. 

Indeed,  throughout  the  county  of  Norfolk  the 
agriculture  was  of  the  poorest  description.  Between 
Holkham  and  Lynn  not  a  single  ear  of  wheat  was  to  be 
seen,  and  it  was  believed  that  not  one  would  grow.  All 
the  wheat  consumed  in  the  county  was  imported  from 
abroad.  And,  meanwhile,  everything  that  ignorance 
could  do  was  done  to  impoverish  further  an  already 
miserable  soil.  The  course  of  cropping  where  the 
land  would  produce  anything  was  three  white  crops  in 
succession,  and  then  broadcast  turnips.  No  manure  was 

1  Etheldreda  (Audrey),  wife  of  Charles,  Viscount  Townshend,  from 
whom  she  was  separated,  and  mother  of  George,  first  Marquis  Towns- 
hend, who  challenged  Lord  Leicester.  She  was  celebrated  for  her  wit 
and  beauty,  and  Walpole  calls  her  "The  beautiful  Statira."  She  died  in 
1788. 


250  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

ever  purchased.  The  sheep  were  a  wretched  breed,  and, 
owing  to  the  absence  of  fodder,  no  milch  cows  were 
kept  on  any  of  the  farms. 

Yet  such,  as  Coke  found  the  land,  it  had  been  for 
successive  generations ;  and  nothing  seemed  more 
incredible  than  that  its  condition  could  be  permanently 
improved,  and  nothing,  as  Lord  Spencer  points  out,1 
"  more  improbable  than  that  Coke — then  a  youth  of 
21  [sic] — fond  of  and  excelling  in  field  sports,  and  with 
princely  wealth,  should  have  applied  himself  to  the 
detailed  management  of  a  farm.  .  .  .  Yet  it  was,"  he 
adds,  4 'to  the  obstinacy  of  a  farmer  of  the  old  school 
that  not  only  Holkham,  but  all  England  and  another 
Hemisphere  is  indebted  for  the  great  Agricultural 
School  established  by  Coke." 

One  of  the  first  discoveries  made  by  Coke  on  succeed- 
ing to  his  property,  was  that  the  leases  in  the  parish  of 
Holkham,  granted  by  old  Lord  Leicester,  were  about 
to  expire.  Five  leases  had  subsequently  been  granted. 
In  the  leases  previous  to  the  ones  then  current,  these 
farms  had  been  let  for  eighteenpence  an  acre  ;  in  the 
current  leases  this  had  been  raised  to  three-and-sixpence. 
Coke  sent  for  the  tenants,  Mr.  Brett  and  Mr.  Tann,  and 
offered  to  renew  their  leases  at  the  moderate  rental  of 
five  shillings.  Both  refused,  and  Mr.  Brett,  who,  as 
Lord  Spencer  remarks,  ought  to  have  his  name  recorded 
for  the  good  which  he  unintentionally  did  his  country, 
jeered  at  the  suggestion,  and  pointed  out  that  the  land 
was  not  worth  the  eighteenpence  an  acre  which  had 
been  originally  paid  for  it.    This  was  sufficient  for  a 

1  Article  by  third  Earl  Spencer  in  Journal  of  the  Royal  Agricultural 
Society,  Vol.  Ill  (1842),  Part  1.    Pub.  J.  Murray,  Albemarle  Street. 


-i8i8]   SOCIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LIFE  251 

man  of  Coke's  temperament ;  he  immediately  decided  to 
farm  the  land  himself. 

When  one  remembers  that  his  hands  were  newly 
filled  with  his  parliamentary  duties  and  with  the  cares 
of  a  large  estate  ;  when  one  realises  that  he  was  abso- 
lutely ignorant  of  the  subject  of  practical  farming,  as 
he  was,  indeed,  of  all  the  work  which  he  had  recently 
undertaken,  the  energy  of  this  youth  of  twenty-two 
was  certainly  remarkable.  Nor  is  it  surprising  to  learn 
that  many  years  afterwards,  when  he  was  an  old 
man,  he  said  that  throughout  his  life  he  had  never 
known  what  it  was  to  find  time  hang  heavily  on  his 
hands ;  he  had  never  found  the  day  half  long  enough 
for  all  that  he  had  to  do. 

In  order,  however,  in  a  brief  survey  of  his  agri- 
cultural work,  to  gain  any  idea  of  what  he  attempted 
and  what  he  achieved,  it  is  necessary  to  treat  the 
subject  as  a  whole,  rather  than  to  insert  events  in  their 
proper  sequence  in  his  life.  We  will  therefore  glance 
rapidly  on  through  the  years,  and  view,  first  his 
labours,  and  then  the  result  of  those  labours. 

Coke's  agricultural  life  is  always  considered  to  date 
from  1778,  when  the  lease  of  Mr.  Brett's  farm  fell  in  ; 
but  before  that  date  he  was  already  at  work.  He  at 
once  set  about  remedying  his  ignorance.  He  began  to 
collect  around  him  practical  men  who  could  aid  him — 
at  first,  for  the  most  part,  humble  and  perhaps  pre- 
judiced advisers ;  but  no  means  of  information  did  he 
despise.  It  struck  him  what  enormous  benefits  might 
be  derived  from  an  annual  visit  to  one  district  of  a 
company  of  men  scientific,  practical  and  theoretical, 


252  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [W6- 

all  interested  in  agriculture.  But  for  the  present  he 
contented  himself  with  assembling  together  a  party  of 
farmers  from  the  immediate  neighbourhood,  who,  upon 
a  day  fixed,  were  to  meet  and  discuss  agricultural 
matters,  to  inspect  his  own  farm  and  method  of  farm- 
ing, to  criticise  what  they  saw,  and  to  condemn  or 
approve  unhesitatingly  as  they  thought  fit.  By  this 
means  he  saw  that  he  could  not  only  gain,  but  also 
judiciously  impart  knowledge,  and  pave  the  way  for 
local  progress  by  raising  an  interest  in  the  questions 
discussed. 

Next,  he  studied  the  agriculture  in  other  counties,  and 
lost  no  opportunity  of  observing  the  results  of  different 
methods  of  farming  and  different  treatment  of  live 
stock.  In  Cheshire  he  visited  several  farms;  also  farms 
in  the  north  and  south.  And  what  struck  him  most 
was  the  extraordinary  waste  of  rich  pasture  in  the  more 
fertile  counties.  Where  the  country  was  poor,  ignor- 
ance impoverished  it ;  where  it  was  naturally  fertile, 
stupidity  failed  to  profit  by  it.  He  said  afterwards  that 
in  Yorkshire  he  saw  wide  and  beautiful  fields,  thick  with 
luxuriant  grass,  yet,  in  passing  a  score  of  these,  he 
discovered  only  a  solitary  donkey  grazing.  In  Shrop- 
shire he  drove  many  miles  through  the  county,  but  saw 
only  two  sheep  ;  one  was  upon  the  road  journeying  to 
Mr.  Roscoe  in  Lancashire,  and  the  other  was  a  ram 
chained  in  a  corner  of  a  field  for  fear  it  should  do 
mischief! 

As  an  immediate  result  of  his  investigations,  he 
adopted  an  improved  course  of  cropping  on  his  own 
land.  Instead  of  growing  three  white  crops  in  succes- 
sion, he  grew  two  only  and  kept  the  land  in  pasture 


-i8i8]  SOCIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LIFE  253 

for  two  years'  interval.  This  change  slowly  but  surely 
brought  about  a  marked  alteration  in  the  impoverished 
soil.  He  also  caused  deep  pits  to  be  dug  in  order  to 
bring  to  the  surface  the  rich  marl  which  lay  buried  far 
beneath  the  thick  layer  of  sharp  flint  and  drifting  sand. 
By  such  means  clover  and  other  grasses  began  to 
flourish,  and  it  became  no  longer  impossible  to  feed  live 
stock  upon  the  land. 

At  Dishley,  as  has  been  already  mentioned,  there 
lived  a  well-known  breeder  named  Robert  Bakewell,1  of 
whom  it  was  wittily  remarked  that  "  his  animals  were 
too  dear  for  any  one  to  buy  and  too  fat  for  any  one  to 
eat ! "  Almost  immediately  upon  coming  into  his 
estate,  Coke  had  asked  this  man  to  come  and  spend  a 
week  at  Holkham.  Bakewell  did  so,  and  Coke  was 
very  struck  by  his  remark  that  the  Norfolk  sheep  were 
the  worst  in  the  whole  of  Great  Britain.  He  questioned 
Bakewell  about  the  cattle,  and  the  answer  was :  "  Mr. 
Coke,  give  me  your  hand,  and  I  will  guide  it ! " 
Bakewell  thereupon  took  Coke's  hand  in  his  own,  and 
passing  it  over  the  cattle,  taught  him  how  to  judge  the 
formation  of  a  beast's  flesh,  its  inclination  in  feeding 
and  whether  it  possessed  the  proper  qualities  for  fatten- 
ing. At  this  time  on  the  3,000  acres  which  formed  the 
Holkham  estate,  there  were  no  cattle,  and  only  eight 
hundred  sheep,  which  were  fed  with  difficulty.  But 
directly  it  became  practicable,  Coke,  who  was  a  great  be- 
liever in  the  Norfolk  proverb  that  "  Muck  is  the  Mother 
of  Money,"  increased  the  number  of  beasts  upon  the 
farms,  realising  that  they  would  do  more  to  improve  the 
value  of  the  land  than  any  other  means  he  could  employ. 

1  He  died  in  1795. 


254  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

He  did  not  at  first  trouble  about  the  cattle.  Remem- 
bering what  Bakewell  had  said,  he  turned  his  attention 
to  the  old  race  of  Norfolk  sheep  (possibly  decadent 
descendants  of  the  flocks  of  "  the  Lady  Gresham"), 
"  whose  backs,"  he  said,  "  were  as  narrow  as  rabbits  !  " 
and  he  "did  his  best  to  extirpate  those  sheep,  the  most 
worthless  that  could  be  kept!  " 1  He  had,  he  explained, 
no  prejudice  for  any  particular  breed,  it  was  his  inten- 
tion to  try  every  breed.  But  for  a  long  time  he  believed 
that  Merinos  would  flourish  in  Norfolk.  "  It  was 
found,"  he  pointed  out,  after  various  experiments, 
"  that  the  Leicester  sheep  first  beat  the  Norfolks,  while 
the  Southdowns  next  beat  the  Leicesters,  and  he 
questioned  whether  the  Merinos  would  not  beat  the 
Southdowns.  But  he  was  by  no  means  particularly 
anxious  to  recommend  these  sheep,  for,  as  Mr. 
Bakewell  used  to  say:  "If  they  will  not  speak  for 
themselves,  nothing  that  can  be  said  for  them  will  do 
it !  " 2  There  was,  however,  from  the  first  a  prejudice 
against  them  which  he  tried  in  vain  to  combat.  This 
had  been  increased  by  a  ridiculous  cause. 

The  King  himself  had  tried  to  rear  Merinos  and  had 
failed.  It  appears  that  a  flock  of  forty  score  of  these 
sheep  had  been  sent  to  the  Royal  Shrubs  Hill  Farm  to 
be  wintered.  About  a  fortnight  before  the  annual 
auction  at  Kew  the  remains  of  that  flock  returned,  in 
number  not  six  score,  and  those  such  poor  emaciated 
creatures  that  the  prejudice  already  existing  against 
their  breed  was  publicly  confirmed.  The  King's  shep- 
herd was  asked  before  several  gentlemen  what  had 
occasioned  this  great  mortality  amongst  the  previously 

1  The  Bury  and  Norwich  Post,  June  29th,  1808.  2  Op.  cit. 


-i8i8]   SOCIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LIFE  255 

fine  flock,  and  he  said  he  "  could  not  tell."  Next  he 
was  asked  to  explain  what  had  become  of  the  skins  of 
the  animals,  which  were  valuable  on  account  of  their 
wool,  and  again  he  "  could  not  tell."  He  was  par- 
ticularly pressed  to  declare  what  had  been  done  with 
the  fine  skins  of  the  lambs,  which,  it  was  reasonably 
concluded,  must  have  been  born  into  the  flock  ;  but 
always  he  "  could  not  tell." 

Subsequently  some  inquiring  mind  discovered  that 
the  skins  of  the  King's  sheep  were  given  to  one 
shepherd  and  the  skins  of  the  lambs  to  another  as 
perquisites.  This  sufficiently  explained  the  great 
mortality  amongst  the  unfortunate  Merinos  ! 

But  although  this  calumny  against  them  was  satisfac- 
torily exploded,  the  prejudice  against  them  remained, 
and  this  in  spite  of  certain  undeniable  merits  possessed 
by  them  which  were,  from  time  to  time,  demonstrated 
at  the  Sheep-shearings.  One  year,  for  instance,  there 
were  exhibited  "  various  beautiful  specimens  of  ladies' 
Merino  dresses,  scarfs,  shawls,  stockings,  coatings, 
cassimeres  and  stocking  knit,"  which  were  manufac- 
tured from  Merinos  on  the  Holkham  estate.  A  pair  of 
the  worsted  stockings  were  of  so  delicate  a  fabric, 
we  are  told,  that  two  could  be  passed  at  the  same  time 
through  a  lady's  ring  ;  and  a  manufacturer  at  once 
ordered  a  dozen  pairs  at  the  price  of  £18  per  dozen.1 
Still  more,  Mr.  Tollett,  an  agricultural  friend  of  Mr. 
Coke's,  who  always  attended  the  Sheep-shearing, 
proved  at  the  same  time  the  unique  individuality  pos- 
sessed by  these  sheep  in  the  remarkable  fact  that 
a  Merino  ram  which  he  owned,  and  which  was  horn- 

1  The  Bury  and  Norwich  Post,  Wednesday,  June  29th,  1808. 


256  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

less,  produced  annually  plentiful  offspring,  one  half  of 
which  invariably  were  hornless  and  the  other  half  had 
horns  ! — Nothing  served  to  make  the  Merinos  either 
appreciated  or  prosperous  in  Norfolk,1  and  Coke, 
recognising  this,  substituted  for  them  the  Southdowns, 
which  he  brought  to  a  wonderful  state  of  perfection, 
until  on  the  same  area  where  eight  hundred  sheep  had 
been  kept  with  difficulty,  he  had  a  flourishing  flock  of 
two  thousand  five  hundred. 

Meanwhile,  during  his  hunting  expeditions  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Blofield,  he  noticed  that,  throughout 
that  district,  not  a  single  sheep  was  visible,  He  was 
convinced  that  their  introduction  there  would  be  per- 
fectly practicable  and  a  great  advantage  to  both  the  farm- 
ers and  the  land  ;  but  he  knew  that  he  had  to  contend 
with  a  rooted  belief  to  the  contrary.  Accordingly 
he  took  his  own  method  of  dealing  with  it.  One  morn- 
ing he  rode  over  to  a  rich  farmer  in  the  neighbourhood 
and  invited  him  to  ride  to  Kipton  Ash  Fair.  The  man, 
much  flattered  and  suspecting  no  ulterior  design,  ac- 
cepted the  invitation,  and  they  went  together.  Arrived 
at  their  destination,  Coke  observed  some  sheep  which 
would  answer  the  required  purpose,  and  suddenly  pro- 
posed to  his  companion  that,  as  the  animals  were  so 
fine,  the  latter  should  buy  them  and  stock  his  farm. 
The  man  was  horrified  at  the  suggestion,  and  asked 
Mr.  Coke  indignantly  what  on  earth  he  should  do  with 
the  beasts  if  he  did  buy  them,  as  it  was  impossible  to 
keep  them  on  his  farm.    "  Impossible,"  suggested 

1  Napoleon  shortly  afterwards  made  similar  exertions  to  introduce 
the  breed  of  Merino  sheep  into  France.  {From  the  unpublished  Journals 
of  John  Spencer-Stanhope ,  Esq.,  of  Cannon  Hall.) 


-i8i8]  SOCIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LIFE  257 

Coke,  "is  a  word  which  is  greatly  abused.  Until  you 
have  tried,  how  can  you  know  what  is  *  impossible '?  " 
The  man  still  objected  strongly ;  whereupon  Coke 
urged  him  further.  "  I  will  make  you  a  fair  offer,"  he 
said  ;  "as  your  buying  them  will  be  at  my  suggestion, 
if  they  die,  I  will  refund  your  outlay  ;  if  they  live, 
your  profit  is  your  own."  The  farmer,  thus  overruled 
by  Mr.  Coke's  determination,  very  reluctantly  bought  a 
hundred  sheep.  The  next  year,  uninvited,  he  rode  over 
to  Holkham  and  begged  Mr.  Coke,  as  a  favour,  to  ride 
with  him  to  Kipton  Ash  Fair.  Coke  agreed,  and, 
arrived  there,  the  farmer  at  his  own  risk  bought  four 
hundred  sheep  for  his  farm  on  which  he  had  thought  it 
impossible  to  rear  one  hundred.  Needless  to  say,  his 
neighbours  followed  his  example,  and  soon,  in  the 
district  where  it  was  imagined  that  not  a  single  sheep 
could  thrive,  there  was  not  a  farm  to  be  seen  without 
flourishing  flocks. 

One  inveterate  enemy,  indeed,  Coke  thereby  gained. 
A  Norfolk  lady,  Mrs.  Bodham,  of  the  most  vehement 
Tory  principles,  and  who  in  later  years  obstinately  said 
that  she  intended  to  outlive  Mr.  Coke — (an  aim  which, 
to  her  immense  satisfaction,  she  ultimately  accom- 
plished by  attaining  to  the  age  of  ninety-four)— always, 
to  the  last  day  of  her  life,  railed  against  him  on  account 
of  his  "Whiggish  Sheep,"  by  the  introduction  of 
which  into  the  county,  she  said,  he  had  completely 
ruined  the  flavour  of  Norfolk  mutton  ! 

After  importing  fresh  sheep,  moreover,  Coke  soon 
introduced  a  breed  of  shorthorned  cattle  into  Norfolk, 
which  latter  he  discarded  for  the  North  Devon  breed, 
when  he  found  these  to  be  superior.  In  this  decision 
1.— s 


258  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

he  was  influenced  by  the  opinion  of  Francis,  Duke  of 
Bedford,1  the  agriculturist,  who  was  one  of  his  greatest 
friends.  One  morning,  as  he  was  riding  down  the  park 
at  Holkham,  Coke  encountered  a  drove  of  thirty  Devon 
oxen  solemnly  marching  towards  the  house.  Much 
surprised  at  such  an  unusual  sight,  he  inquired  whence 
these  unexpected  visitors  had  arrived,  and  was  told 
they  had  travelled  from  Woburn,  a  present  to  Mr.  Coke 
from  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  who  wished  him  to  try  the 
special  breed  of  Devons  which  he  personally  approved. 

Coke  at  once  started  a  trial  between  the  fattening  of 
two  Devons  against  one  shorthorned  beast ;  and  dis- 
covered that  the  two  former  cost  the  same  as  the  one 
latter.  When  killed,  the  two  weighed  140  stone,  while 
the  shorthorned  beast  weighed  no  stone  only,  and  it 
had  eaten  more  food  than  the  two  Devons.  In  short, 
Devons  would  flourish  in  pasture  where  Durhams 
would  starve  ;  and  Shorthorns,  though  satisfactory  for 
the  butcher,  were  unprofitable  for  the  breeder. 

After  he  had  made  this  discovery,  he  saw  some  Short- 
horns belonging  to  a  tenant  of  his,  and  informed  the 
man  that  he  would  find  them  great  consumers.  The 
man  announced,  however,  that  he  was  supremely  satis- 
fied with  his  stock.  Upon  his  next  visit,  Coke  asked 
him  if  he  was  still  satisfied  with  the  Shorthorns?  The 
man  carefully  ignored  the  question.  At  last,  unable 
to  contain  himself  any  longer,  he  burst  out,  "  Mr. 
Coke,  you  were  right !  Them  darned  beasts  have  eat 
up  all  my  turnips  ;  and  gi'  them  a  chance,  they'd  eat 
all  the  turnips  in  the  parish,  and  all  the  turnips  in 
England  itself!" 

1  Francis,  fifth  Duke  of  Bedford  (1765-1802). 


-i8i8]  SOCIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LIFE  259 

Not  contented,  however,  with  recommending  the  Devon 
breed  amongst  his  farmers  in  the  country,  Coke  called 
upon  a  butcher  in  London,  a  Mr.  Handcock,  who  then 
supplied  the  principal  families,  and  asked  him  if  he 
killed  any  Devon  beasts.  The  man  replied,  "  Certainly 
not !  They  are  not  good  enough  for  my  clients,  who 
will  only  have  the  best  Scots!"  "Try  the  Devons," 
urged  Mr.  Coke,  "  and  let  me  know  the  result !  "  The 
result  was  that,  for  a  considerable  time,  the  butcher 
bought  whatever  Mr.  Coke  sent  to  market,  in  all  more 
than  a  hundred  beasts,  and  that  both  he  and  his  clients 
were  supremely  satisfied  with  the  change. 

Coke,  who  often  used  cattle  for  ploughing,  found 
that  the  Devons  were  also  the  best  for  this  work.  That 
he  was  peculiar  in  thus  using  oxen  is  shown  by  a 
remark  which  he  made  in  the  House  in  1805,  that  "in 
Norfolk,  where  farming  was  carried  to  a  great  degree 
of  nicety,  he  believed  there  was  no  such  thing  known 
as  the  use  of  oxen  in  husbandry."1  When  he  used 
horses  he  never  employed  more  than  two,  though 
throughout  the  country  it  was  customary  to  employ 
from  three  to  five,  and  then  to  find  that  the  land  was 
not  ploughed  very  deep  nor  was  the  work  thoroughly  neat 
and  efficient.  The  secret  was  that,  although  always 
ready  to  test  new  inventions,  where  Coke  found  the  old 
methods  best,  he  stuck  to  them  with  equal  determination  ; 
and  in  spite  of  all  that  others  less  able  to  judge  could 
say  to  the  contrary,  he  kept  to  the  old-fashioned  Nor- 

1  Hansard,  1805,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  883. 

"  In  1784  Coke  worked  twelve  oxen  in  harness  for  carting-,  and  found 
them  a  very  considerable  saving  in  comparison  with  horses  ;  but  by  1800 
he  had  been  forced  to  give  up  using  them  partly  from  the  difficulty  of 
shoeing,  but  principally  from  the  prejudice  of  his  men  against  them  " 
{Autobiography  of  Arthur  Young,  p.  481). 


260  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

folk  plough  which  places  the  horses  nearer  their  work, 
and  thus  saves  the  waste  of  force  occasioned  by  four 
or  five  horses  pulling  from  a  point  six  or  seven  inches 
below  the  surface  of  the  earth. 

In  the  Agricultural  Annals  of  1784,  it  is  related  how 
"the  great  Coke  of  Norfolk"  visiting  a  friend  near 
North  Leach,  in  Gloucestershire,  was  utterly  astonished 
to  see  "six  horses  at  a  length  turning  a  single  furrow 
with  a  clumsy  plough,"  and  making  hard  work  of  it 
He  could  not  rest  till  he  had  made  his  friend  a  present 
of  a  Norfolk  plough  and  a  pair  of  Norfolk  cart-horses, 
and  had  sent  the  ploughman  over  to  start  these.  This 
plough  made  excellent  headway,  and  the  two  horses 
were  not  tired  with  work,  well  performed,  which,  with 
the  other  plough,  it  had  fatigued  six  horses  to  do  badly. 

Some  years  later,  in  1801,  Coke,  while  staying  at 
Woburn,  was  enlarging  upon  the  merits  of  the  Norfolk 
plough,  when  Sir  John  Sebright,  m.p.  for  Herts,  who 
was  an  obstinate  and  eccentric  man,  shook  his  head 
and  announced  gruffly  :  "  Coke,  I'll  stake  you  a  wager 
of  two  hundred  guineas  that  a  Norfolk  plough  and  two 
horses  cannot  plough  an  acre  of  heavy  Hertford  land 
in  ten  hours."  Coke  promptly  accepted  the  challenge, 
but  pointed  out  that,  since  Sir  John  would  certainly 
lose  his  wager,  he  would  be  wise  to  offer  lower  stakes. 
Conditions  were  then  drawn  up  by  the  Duke  of  Bed- 
ford, and  the  document  ran  as  follows  : — 

"Sir  John  Sebright  offers  to  bet  50  guineas  that 
Mr.  Coke  will  not  plough  an  acre  of  land  in  one  day 
in  a  husband-like  manner  with  the  wheel-plough 
commonly  used  in  Norfolk,  with  two  horses ;  an 
acre  of  which  Sir  John  Sebright  will  plough  in  the 
same  time  with  a  Hertfordshire  plough  and  four 
horses ;  the  land  to  be  fixed  upon  by  Sir  J.  Sebright, 


-i8i8]   SOCIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LIFE  261 


near  Beechwood  in  the  month  of  October.  One 
person  to  be  named  by  each  of  them,  and  the  call- 
ing in  a  third  if  they  do  not  agree. 

"  Accepted  by  {Signed)  Thomas  William  Coke." 

Sir  John,  as  may  be  imagined,  took  particular  care 
that  the  land  chosen  should  be  the  very  worst  he  could 
find.  Coke  sent  a  responsible  farmer  to  inspect  the 
field  beforehand  and  the  report  which  I  subjoin,  un- 
expurgated,  was  far  from  reassuring  : — 

"  Honor'd  Sir, — According  to  your  desire  I  taken 
the  first  opportunity  to  go  with  your  Man  to  Sir 
John  Seabright's  were  he  seen  the  land  that  is  to 
(be)  plough'd  ;  it  is  very  stoney  and  what  is  worse 
the  chosen  Spot  is  rising  Ground  where  the  Horses 
will  be  obliged  to  go  up  and  down  the  Hill.  William 
says  he  cannot  positively  say  whether  he  can  plough 
it  or  not,  from  the  innumerable  Quantity  of  Flints 
there  is  above  ground.  The  Day  is  fixed  for  next 
Friday  when  I  will  Aid  and  Assist  as  much  as  lays 
in  my  power.  William  is  now  at  plough  in  the  Park 
where  his  Plough  performs  the  work  better  and  with 
more  ease  than  the  Bedfordshire  Plows  do  with  four 
horses.  I  understand  of  Sir  John  Seabright  there 
will  be  a  large  Concourse  of  People  attend  on  the 
Day  appointed.  I  am  informed  the  Bets  in  the 
Neighbourhood  of  Beechwood  are  offer'd  fifty  guineas 
to  Ten  in  favour  of  the  Norfolk  Plow,  and  that  the 
Herfordshire  Man  may  be  beat  is  the  sincere  wish  of 

"  Your  Most  Obet.  Humble  Servant, 

"John  Clayton  Junr. 

"  Speedwell  Farm,  September  28th  1801." 

The  contest  was  privately  fixed  for  October  2nd  ;  but 
although  the  fact  was  not  known  in  Hertfordshire  until 
the  previous  day,  a  large  crowd  of  agriculturists  and 
farmers  came  from  great  distances  to  witness  the  trial, 
and  made  a  sporting  event  of  the  strange  incident.  It 


262  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

is  said  that  many  strangers  bet  ten  to  one  against  Mr. 
Coke's  plough  when  it  started  with  his  horses  and  men, 
but  the  task  was  accomplished  in  the  time  agreed  upon, 
and  the  only  question  to  be  decided  was  whether  it  had 
been  performed  in  a  husband-like  manner.  "  A  Hert- 
fordshire gentleman,"  wrote  a  friend  to  Mr.  Dixon  in 
Norfolk,  "told  me  that  it  was  an  extraordinary  per- 
formance."— "If  in  your  mind  there  remains  any 
doubt,"  wrote  Coke  to  Sir  John,  on  October  7th,  "let 
it  be  referred  to  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  under  whose 
roof,  and  in  whose  presence  the  bett  was  made."  But 
the  Duke  could  only  assure  Coke  that,  after  minute 
inspection  of  the  work  by  a  competent  farmer,  no 
doubt  could  exist  that  he  had  won  his  bet.  "All 
agree,"  he  pronounced,  "that  it  was  the  hardest  day's 
work  done  by  man  or  horse." 

So  Sir  John  paid  his  fifty  guineas  with  a  good  grace; 
"I  should  be  wanting  in  Justice  to  your  Ploughman," 
he  wrote  to  Coke,  "did  I  not  state  to  you  that  his  skill 
and  exertions  astonished  every  person  present."  And 
Coke,  thanking  him  for  his  "polite"  letter  of  informa- 
tion respecting  the  performance  of  the  Norfolk  plough, 
remarks:  "Had  I  entertained  a  doubt  of  its  success 
I  should  not  have  done  justice  to  the  skill  and  ability 
of  the  Ploughman,  whose  exertions,  I  can  easily 
assume,  must  have  astonished  men  less  conversant  in 
the  Norfolk  science  of  Agriculture."1 

1  Two  years  later,  on  June  17th,  1803,  Coke  challenged  all  England 
with  a  Norfolk  plough  and  a  pair  of  horses  to  plough  an  acre,  or  half  an 
acre,  of  any  soil  for  fifty  guineas,  to  be  tried  on  light  land  at  Holkham 
and  on  strong  clay  at  Woburn. 

Sir  J.  Sinclair  said  he  would  accept  the  bet  if  it  was  extended  to 
Scotland,  which  was  accordingly  agreed,  but  the  result  is  not  recorded. 


-i8i8] 


CHAPTER  XII 


AGRICULTURAL  LABOURS  CONTINUED 


M 


EN  were  destined,  however,  rapidly  to 
become  conversant  with  the  "  Norfolk 
science  of  Agriculture " ;  for,  as  Coke 
wrote  to  his  farmers:  1  i  Everything  con- 


nected with  Agriculture  must  necessarily  be  a  subject 
of  the  first  importance  to  the  public  at  large.  From 
this  source  the  labourer  is  employed  and  the  manu- 
facturer fed  ;  from  this  source,  also,  the  landlord  re- 
ceives his  rent,  the  tenant  his  support,  and  all  classes 
of  society  their  comforts."  Similarly,  a  great  contem- 
porary— or,  perhaps,  more  correctly,  precursor  of  Coke's 
— Voltaire,1  had  already  remarked  how  "the  best  thing 
we  have  to  do  on  earth  is  to  cultivate  it";  and  how  "to 
have  cultivated  a  field  and  made  twenty  trees  grow,  is 
a  good  which  will  never  be  lost "  ; — which  latter  fact 
was  also  early  recognised  by  Coke. 

Almost  immediately  in  his  experiments  he  turned  his 
attention  to  timbering  his  estate,  and  thus  transforming 
the  bleak,  bare  coast.  He  decided  to  plant  fifty  acres 
every  year  till  he  had  environed  three  thousand  acres 
of  land  which  was  to  compose  the  park  and  demesne. 
He  planted  four  hundred  acres  of  different  kinds  of 
plants,  two-thirds  of  which  he  intended  to  be  thinned 


Voltaire  died  in  1778. 
263 


264  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

and  cut  down  for  underwood,  leaving  only  oak,  Spanish 
chestnut  and  beech  as  timber.1  "Mr.  Coke  is  doing 
wonders  in  planting  and  improvement,"  we  are  told  in 
1 79 1. 2  Many  years  afterwards  he  had  what  was 
probably  a  unique  experience  in  the  life  of  any  man. 
In  1832  he  and  his  family  embarked  on  board  a  ship  at 
Wells  built  of  wood  grown  from  acorns  which  he  him- 
self had  planted. 

He  also,  like  his  ancestors,  devoted  his  thought  to 
reclaiming  land  from  the  sea.  Laboriously,  and  at 
enormous  cost,  he  reclaimed  seven  hundred  acres  which 
had  previously  been  covered  by  the  ocean,  and  began 
to  prepare  them  for  cultivation.  Within  two  years, 
corn  was  growing  upon  soil  which  had  been  shingle 
swept  by  daily  tides. 

Yet  so  late  as  1808  we  find  him  complaining  that  no 
meadows  were  in  so  disgraceful  a  state  as  those  in 
Norfolk,  and,  in  order  to  encourage  irrigation,  offering 
£50  to  the  person  who  should  convert  the  greatest 
number  of  acres  (not  less  than  ten)  into  water  meadows 
by  the  following  year.3 

One  result  of  his  personally  reclaiming  thesalt  marshes 
was  that  the  lake  at  Holkham  ceased  to  be  an  arm  of  the 
sea.  This  left  it  twenty  acres  in  extent,  and  over  a 
mile  long.  Not  till  sixty  years  afterwards  was  it  cleaned 
out  for  the  first  time  since  it  had  been  part  of  the 
ocean,  and  the  mud  which  was  then  removed  was  found 
to  contain  many  marine  substances.    This  was  used  as 

1  Agricultural  Survey  of  Norfolk  (1796),  by  Nathaniel  Kent,  p.  90. 
3  The  Girlhood  of  Maria  Josepha  Holroyd,  edited  by  J.  H.  Adeane 
(1896),  p.  255. 

3  The  Bury  and  Norwich  Post,  June  29th,  1808. 


-i8i8]    AGRICULTURAL  LABOURS  CONTD-  265 


manure  and  proved  most  beneficial,  four  cart-loads 
being  applied  to  one  acre  of  land,  and  causing  that  land, 
though  poor  and  sandy,  to  produce  fourteen  coombs  of 
wheat  to  the  acre. 

In  the  repairing  and  strengthening  of  the  sea- 
breaches  and  the  irrigation  of  this  land  Coke  employed 
the  well-known  ' '  Strata"  Smith.  This  geologist, 
William — better  known  as  "  Strata" — Smith,1  was  the 
son  of  poor  parents,  and  had  risen  by  his  own  abilities. 
Coke  first  met  him  at  the  house  of  a  friend,  and  being 
struck  by  his  improvements  in  irrigation  and  draining, 
decided  to  employ  him,  and  afterwards  helped  him  by 
introducing  him  to  friends,  and  particularly  to  Francis, 
Duke  of  Bedford,  who  made  great  use  of  him  upon  the 
Woburn  estate.  Smith  gained  celebrity  as  the  author 
of  the  first  Map  of  the  Strata  of  England  and  Wales, 
and  afterwards  wrote  a  well-known  book  on  4 'Water 
Meadows,"  which  he  dedicated  to  Coke.2  In  his 
Memoirs*  there  is  a  description  of  his  first  journey  to 
Holkham.  He  rode  on  horseback  from  Bath  with 
nothing  but  a  one-sheet  map  to  guide  him.  Being 
afraid  that  he  would  not  remember  the  road  on  his 
return,  he  took  characteristic  measures  to  recall  it. 
He  relates:  "  I  alighted  from  my  horse,  from  time  to 

1  William  Smith  (1769- 1839),  the  Father  of  English  Geology. 

8  Observations  on  Water  Meadows,  published  in  1806,  dedicated  to 
"Thomas  William  Coke,  Esq.,  m.p.  for  the  County  of  Norfolk."  The 
dedication,  after  referring-  to  improvements  in  various  parts  of  Norfolk, 
proceeds  :  M  Indeed,  the  recital  of  these  good  practices  is  nothing  but  a 
faint  echo  of  what  the  community  is  indebted  to  you  ;  but  those  only 
who  live  in  the  County  of  Norfolk  can  form  any  idea  of  the  great  good 
that  is  there  going  on,  and  the  ultimate  advantages  of  your  invaluable 
improvements  would  to  many  appear  like  a  romance,  especially  if  put 
down  in  numbers,  which  is  the  only  way  of  ascertaining  their  real  worth." 

3  Memoirs  of  William  Smith,  by  J.  R.  Philips,  F.R.S.,  1844. 


266  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 
time,  sketched  a  section  of  the  ascents  and  descents 
of  the  road,  marked  the  stone  quarries,  outcrops  of  the 
rocks  and  other  strata  thereon,  and  could  not  refrain 
from  loading  my  pockets  with  identifying  fossils."  One 
imagines  that  he  must  have  been  somewhat  exhausted 
by  the  end  of  his  journey  ! 

Coke  had  all  the  aptitude  of  a  clever  man  for  discover- 
ing talent  in  others,  and  for  recognising  the  men  who 
were  best  qualified  to  help  him  in  his  endeavours.  It 
was  thus  that  he  quickly  recognised  Gardiner's  inca- 
pacity and  unworthiness.  It  was  thus  that,  later  in 
life,  he  secured  the  services  of  an  invaluable  assistant, 
Francis  Blakie,  of  whom  we  shall  hear  in  due  course. 
But  whatever  information  he  collected  from  others,  he 
never  considered  it  conclusive  until  he  had  personally 
tested  its  value,  at  whatever  cost  to  himself.  And  in 
all  the  work  which  he  undertook  he  did  not  look  for 
any  immediate  profits  ;  indeed,  the  enormous  outlay 
which  his  labours  entailed  must  have  prohibited  any 
expectation  of  this.  During  the  first  few  years  of  his 
experiments  he  spent  over  £100,000  in  the  erection 
and  repairing  of  farm-houses  and  outbuildings  alone. 
Between  1776  and  1842  he  is  said  to  have  spent  no 
less  than  £536,992  on  improvements,  which  did  not 
include  any  of  the  large  sums  spent  on  his  house  and 
domain,  home-farm  buildings  and  his  expensive  Marsh- 
farm  of  459  acres.1  His  object  was  a  disinterested  one 
— at  whatever  loss  and  exertion  to  himself  to  bring 
about  a  permanent  improvement  in  the  condition  of  the 

1  See  Walter  Rye,  Coke  of  Holkham,  p.  n  ;  from  the  Journal  of  the 
R.A.S.E.,  3rd  series,  Vol.  VI,  part  i,  1895;  also  Journal  R.A.S.E., 
Vol.  XXIII,  p.  370. 


-i8i8]    AGRICULTURAL  LABOURS  CONTD-  267 

soil  and  in  the  knowledge  of  agriculture.  And  though 
gain  came  to  him,  it  must  have  seemed  at  first  improb- 
able that  his  mere  outlay  could  ever  be  recouped. 

One  thing,  however,  he  always  maintained  was  that 
the  interests  of  landlord  and  tenant  were  identical. 
"  A  good  understanding  between  landlord  and  tenant" 
was  always  quoted  as  the  root  of  the  Holkham  pros- 
perity. In  order  to  encourage  his  farmers  to  exert 
themselves  he  let  out  his  farms  on  long  leases  at  a 
very  moderate  rental,  and  burdened  by  very  few  re- 
strictions. This,  he  saw,  was,  in  the  end,  an  advantage 
to  both  landlord  and  tenant.  It  made  it  worth  while 
for  the  tenant  to  invest  capital  in  his  farm  and  to 
interest  himself  in  its  improvement,  while  it  eventually 
benefited  the  landlord  by  enriching  his  estate.  But 
in  granting  these  long  leases  it  was  necessary  to  take 
into  consideration  the  fact  that,  under  a  bad  tenant,  the 
land  would  have  greater  opportunity  for  deterioration  ; 
therefore,  when  a  certain  tenant  named  Overman,  who 
had  been  the  first  to  further  the  new  agricultural 
schemes,  at  length  took  a  farm  on  the  Holkham  estate, 
Coke  allowed  him,  as  an  experiment,  to  draw  up  the 
covenants  of  his  lease  himself.  Overman  inserted  a 
clause  making  the  improved  course  of  cropping  com- 
pulsory ;  and  Coke  forthwith  made  this  lease  the  model 
on  which  all  others,  with  any  necessary  modifications, 
were  framed  ;  so  that  the  land  was  thus  efficiently  pro- 
tected from  the  possible  results  of  a  long  course  of  bad 
farming. 

In  one  particular,  especially,  Coke  was  unalterably 
consistent.  Effort  and  industry  in  his  tenants  were 
met  by  him  with  unstinting  liberality  as  a  landlord. 


268  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

When  a  farmer  by  wit  or  work  had  increased  the  value 
of  his  holding,  Coke  did  not,  as  the  value  rose,  immedi- 
ately raise  the  rent.  Such  a  course  he  considered 
calculated  to  discourage  effort.  In  a  neighbouring 
estate,  where  the  landlord  was  old,  the  heir  refused 
to  renew  the  leases,  thinking  the  farms  might  be  worth 
a  higher  rent  in  the  future.  In  consequence,  all  improve- 
ments on  that  estate  ceased.  But  when  a  tenant  who 
had  taken  a  Holkham  farm  actually  doubled  the  value  of 
his  holding,  Coke  twice  renewed  the  man's  long  lease 
on  the  original  terms,  and  the  improvements  increased. 

In  the  year  1818,  one  tenant  reclaimed  two  pieces  of 
meadow  pasture  from  a  complete  bog  at  the  expense  of 
ten  pounds  an  acre.  When  Blakie  saw  this  he  was 
so  struck  with  it  that  he  exclaimed  :  "  Upon  my  word, 
young  man,  you  have  a  stout  heart ! "  A  few  days 
afterwards  the  tenant  found  a  note  upon  his  table,  in 
Coke's  well-known  handwriting,  as  follows  : — 

"  I  approve  the  improvements  effected  by  you  as 
reported  to  me  by  Mr.  Blakie,  and  in  consequence 
feel  it  my  duty  to  grant  you  a  new  lease  from  Michael- 
mas 1818  for  21  years." 

This  lease  was  to  remain  at  the  annual  rental  agreed 
upon  when  the  land  was  partially  bog.  The  farm  was 
subsequently  so  improved  that  a  second  lease  of  twenty- 
one  years  was  granted. 

A  naive  letter  to  Coke  from  the  wife  of  one  of  his 
tenants,  written  at  this  date,  refers  to  a  similar  trans- 
action : — 

"COKE  FOR  EVER!  and  so  Mrs.  Dowsing 
always  has  said,  and  ever  will  say.  This  is  not  the 
first  time  on  which  Mr.  Coke  has  treated  Mr.  Dows- 


-i8i8]    AGRICULTURAL  LABOURS  CONTD-  269 


ing  in  the  handsomest  manner  possible. — A  thousand, 
thousand  thanks. — Mrs.  Dowsing  likewise  desires 
to  express  her  best  acknowledgments  to  Mr.  Coke. 
This  lady  is  a  staunch  friend  and  well-wisher  to  Mr. 
Coke,  as  well  as  Mr.  D." 

Whenever  a  tenant  had  been  proved  to  be  a  valuable 
farmer,  in  renewing  his  lease  Coke  gave  him  the 
bonus  of  an  excellent  house.  ' '  Gentlemen's  houses 
for  farmers"  these  gifts  were  described,1  and  his  political 
opponents  made  it  one  of  the  complaints  against  him 
that  he  built  palaces  for  farm-houses.  He,  however, 
built  his  home-farm,  yard  and  buildings  as  a  model  to 
his  tenants  of  what  such  buildings  should  be ;  and 
more  than  once  he  said  to  a  tenant : If  you  will  keep 
an  extra  yard  of  bullocks,  I  will  build  you  a  yard  and 
shed  free  of  expense." 

Besides  all  his  other  expenditure,  he  spent  large 
sums  in  improving  the  dwellings  of  his  cottagers.  He 
designed  special  buildings  for  the  comfort  of  the  aged 
or  infirm,  whose  cottages  he  planned  all  on  one  floor 
that  they  might  not  have  the  fatigue  of  going  up  and 
down  stairs.  Indeed,  the  permanent  happiness  of  his 
tenants  seems  to  have  been  his  first  consideration.  "  It 
has  been  objected  against  me,"  he  said  at  one  of  the 
Sheep-shearings,  "that  my  tenants  live  too  much  like 
gentlemen,  driving  their  own  curricules,  perhaps,  and 
drinking  their  port  every  day.  I  am  proud  to  have 
such  a  tenantry,  and  heartily  wish  that  instead  of 

1  "The  Stately  Mansions,  as  they  would  be  termed  in  most  other 
counties,  which  the  farmers  occupy  were  equally  admired  by  strangers 
with  the  degree  of  intelligence  and  spirit  of  improvement,  which  their 
hospitable  occupiers  possess"  (The  London  Chronicle ;  Account  of  the 
Sheep-shearing,  July  3-5,  1804). 


270  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  Ew6- 
drinking  their  port  they  could  afford  to  drink  their 
claret  and  champagne  every  day!"  .  .  .  "Such," 
adds  the  enthusiastic  recorder  of  the  speech,  "is  the 
spirit,  such  is  the  liberality  and  such  are  the  feelings 
of  Mr.  Coke!"1 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Coke  always  put  good  solid 
comfort  in  daily  life  far  before  all  outward  and  more 
striking  signs  of  prosperity.  "We  can  all  be  clothed 
with  imperial  cloth  of  British  growth,"  he  said  at  one 
of  the  Sheep-shearings;  "but  I  had  rather  that  an 
Englishman's  back  should  go  without  a  superfine  coat 
than  that  he  should  want  plenty  of  wholesome  mutton 
inside  him!"  A  cheery  song  called  "Barley  Mung," 
which  was  sung  throughout  Norfolk,  celebrated  his 
indifference  to  the  considerations  of  appearance  as  well 
as  of  rank : — 

Coke  little  recks  of  low,  or  high, 

Coats  fine,  or  jackets  barely  worn  ; 

The  Landlord  of  Holkham  ne'er  looks  down 

On  the  humble  grower  of  Barley-corn  ! 

Arthur  Young,2  the  agriculturist,  declares,  indeed, 
that  Coke  was  something  of  a  martinet  towards  his 
tenants.  On  Sundays,  he  says,  Mr.  Coke  insisted  on 
all  his  labourers  attending  church,  and  afterwards  sent 
them  to  work  in  the  fields,  declaring  that  honest  labour 
was  preferable  to  drunken  idleness — their  only  other 
method  of  spending  the  Sabbath.3  This  sounds  ex- 
tremely like  a  fable  circulated  by  his  political  oppon- 

1  Undated  newspaper  extract  kept  by  the  Hon.  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Keppel.    Holkham  MS. 

8  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture. 

3  Arthur  Young  calculated  that  if  the  half-day  Sunday  work  were  the 
custom  all  over  England,  it  would  be  worth  £600,000  per  annum  to  the 
Kingdom  {Annals  of  Agriculture,  Vol.  II,  p.  379). 


-i8i8]    AGRICULTURAL  LABOURS  CONTD-  271 

ents  with  the  object  of  damaging  his  popularity 
among  the  working  classes ;  but,  be  that  as  it  may,  it 
is  certain  that  no  tenant  ever  left  him,  except  owing 
to  extreme  old  age,  and  that  no  man  who  had  once 
known  Coke  as  a  landlord  would  ever  consent  to  live 
under  any  other.1 

'  i  Though  long  leases  and  clauses  of  management 
were  innovations,"  we  are  told,  "  Holkham  farms  com- 
manded the  pick  of  the  English  tenants."2  Even 
William  Cobbett,3  the  hater  of  landlords,  who  had 
previously  made  a  fierce  and  public  attack  upon  Coke  on 
account  of  his  great  wealth — an  attack  which  roused  a 
chorus  of  indignation  from  current  periodicals — even 
Cobbett  acknowledged  the  benefit  which  Coke's  tenantry 
derived  from  his  paternal  rule.  i 4  Every  one,"  con- 
fessed Cobbett  in  1818,  after  a  visit  to  the  Holkham 
estate,  "made  use  of  the  expressions  towards  him 
which  affectionate  children  use  towards  their  parents."4 

As  the  condition  of  the  land  surrounding  the  estate 
improved,  Coke  must  have  often  compared  it  mentally 
with  the  bleak  and  barren  heath  which  he  had  seen 
upon  his  first  arrival  at  Holkham  ;  and  must  have  con- 
trasted, too,  the  prosperous  farmers  in  their  comfort- 

1  "I  have  never  seen  an  instance  of  any  tenant  leaving-  him,  unless 
grown  too  far  in  years  to  be  able  to  continue "  (Nathaniel  Kent, 
Agricultural  Survey  of  Norfolk  (1796),  p.  123). 

2  Social  England,  ed.  H.  D.  Traill  (1893-7).  V<>1.  VI>  P-  8o- 

3  William  Cobbett  (1762- 1835),  son  °f  a  small  farmer  and  grandson 
of  a  day-labourer.  Socialist  and  demagogue.  M.P.  for  Oldham,  1832. 
Originator  of  Hansard's  Debates  (1806). 

4  Social  England,  Vol.  VI,  p.  80.  It  is  perhaps  a  trivial  circum- 
stance, but  it  helps  to  show  the  light  in  which  Coke  was  regarded,  that, 
throughout  Norfolk,  crockery  was  popular  in  the  cottages  which  bore 
his  likeness  upon  it,  and  the  inscription— "  The  Norfolk  Patriot.  Greatly 
beloved." 


2/2  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 
able  dwellings  with  a  recollection  of  the  ill-conditioned 
smugglers  who  had  then  occupied  the  cottages  upon 
the  coast.1  One  point,  however,  he  was  determined  all 
should  recognise,  and  that  was  the  sharp  distinction 
between  his  sentiments  as  a  politician  and  as  an  agri- 
culturist. Strongly  as  he  felt  upon  the  subject  of  up- 
holding the  principles  of  the  Whig  party — principles  on 
which  he  believed  the  welfare  and  liberty  of  England  to 
depend — he  wished  it  to  be  clearly  understood  that,  what- 
ever benefits  he  bestowed  upon  his  tenants,  he  laid  no 
claim  to  their  political  allegiance;  each  man  was  free  to 
follow  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience,  and  no  one 
should  be  coerced. 

"  When  any  man  who  holds  a  farm  under  me  gives 
me  his  support,  I  consider  it  a  compliment ;  when  he 
votes  against  me,  I  naturally  feel  hurt ;  but  I  give  each 
man  credit  for  his  opinions,  and  I  wish  him  to  vote 
according  to  his  conscience.  I  have  on  my  estate  some 
who  have  been  very  active  partisans  against  me,  but  I 
have  never  removed  them  from  their  farms  on  that 
account." — Once  Lord  Exeter,  rinding  that  some  ten- 
ants upon  his  estate  had  voted  against  him,  gave  them 
notice  to  quit,  and  Coke  did  not  spare  the  expression  of 
his  opinion  upon  that  occasion. — "Is  it  to  be  endured," 
he  exclaimed  in  a  public  speech  soon  after,  "that  any 
man  should  extend  his  authority  to  such  a  despotic 

1  "  Not  many  years  ago,  the  site  on  which  Mr.  Coke's  stables  now 
stand  was  occupied  by  a  few  mean,  straggling  cottages,  inhabited  by 
miserable  beings  who,  unable  to  obtain  a  maintenance  from  the  inade- 
quate produce  of  the  agricultural  labour  of  the  neighbourhood,  derived  a 
not  less  precarious  subsistence  from  smuggling  and  the  predatory  habits 
connected  with  it."  See  Holkham  and  its  Agriculture  (1818),  by  Dr. 
Rigby. 


-i8i8]    AGRICULTURAL  LABOURS  CONTD-  273 

extent  as  to  tell  a  free-born  Englishman,  '  If  you  don't 
go  to  the  lengths  I  do,  I  shall  remove  you  from  your 
occupation  ' !  I  would  scorn  to  turn  a  man  out  of  his 
farm  or  his  dwelling  because  he  voted  against  me  !  It 
is  horrid,  it  is  revolting  to  every  good  feeling  that  a 
man  should  say,  '  You  and  your  wife  and  your  children 
shall  be  turned  out  into  the  road  destitute  because  you 
exercised  your  franchise  against  my  will/  If  this  is 
the  conduct  of  the  aristocracy,  they  must  expect  the 
result  of  it — hatred  and  aggression.  .  .  ,ni 

As  a  result,  Coke  always  said  that  in  the  whole 
course  of  his  life,  wherever  he  went,  he  never  met  with 
anything  but  perfect  civility  from  all  denominations  of 
people.2  It  was  his  pride  to  mix  with  the  yeomanry. 
"  He  knew  they  were  a  proud  and  independent  body  of 
men — men  who  were  willing  to  be  led,  but  would  never 
be  driven  ;  and  he  trusted  to  God  they  never  would  !  " 

To  emphasise  this  attitude — as  in  his  political  life  he 
had  adopted  certain  toasts  to  show  his  principles,  so  in 
his  capacity  of  landlord  he  adopted  a  motto  which 
became  the  keynote  of  existence  upon  the  Holkham 
estate.  This  maxim,  "  Live  and  Let  Live,"  was  his 
first  toast  at  all  gatherings  of  tenantry  on  the  estate  ;  it 
was  the  maxim  on  which  he  moulded  his  life.  His  sole 
aim,  he  stated,  was  to  give  everybody  a  fair  chance,  to 
combat  prejudice,  to  encourage  effort,  to  increase 
practical  knowledge.  Towards  the  scoffers  he  showed 
an  infinite  patience  :  "  To  those  who  are  hard  of  belief," 
he  said,  "I  can  only  say — Come  and  see — you  will  be 

1  Norwich  Chronicle October,  1830. 

2  One  must,  however,  recognise  an  exception  in  the  conduct  of  some 
of  the  rioters  subsequently  referred  to. 

I.— T 


274  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 
heartily  welcome."  When  praised  for  his  generosity, 
he  always  parried  all  compliment  by  answering  simply 
that  he  considered  himself  a  temporary  steward  of  the 
ample  fortune  which  Providence  had  bestowed  upon 
him  ;  that  he  was  bound  to  use  it,  not  for  himself,  but, 
to  the  best  advantage,  for  others. 

And,  meanwhile,  in  all  his  efforts,  he  laboured  most 
earnestly  with  the  children  of  the  tenants.  His  first 
idea  was  to  educate  the  younger  generation  to  a  greater 
intelligence  and  love  of  enterprise  than  was  possible 
with  their  fathers.  He  instituted  special  classes  for 
their  instruction  in  the  knowledge  of  all  matters  con- 
nected with  practical  farming.  He  himself  taught  them 
by  taking  them  about  his  farms  ;  questioning  them  on 
what  they  saw,  and  explaining  what  they  did  not  under- 
stand ;  while  he  made  a  careful  note  of  those  who 
showed  greatest  aptitude,  and  to  them  devoted  most 
pains.  But  chiefly  he  encouraged  all  alike  to  exert 
their  own  powers  of  observation.  What  they  merely 
learnt,  he  commended  ;  what  they  discovered  for  them- 
selves, he  rewarded. 

Thus  during  the  months  of  May  and  June  when  the 
grass  was  in  bloom,  he  not  only  gave  the  children 
simple  botanical  lessons,  but  employed  them  to  scour  the 
country  in  search  of  the  best  stock  of  seed.  This 
apparently  unimportant  action  gradually  consummated 
the  transformation  for  which  he  was  labouring  in  the 
pasture-lands.  The  want  of  deep  drainage  had  formerly 
been  severely  felt,  and  the  wet  pastures  had  favoured 
the  growth  of  the  rankest  and  coarsest  vegetation.  Yet, 
although  this  had  been  altered,  when  the  land  wanted 
seeding,  the  farmers  continued  to  throw  on  the  ground 


-i8i8]    AGRICULTURAL  LABOURS  CONTD-  275 

an  indiscriminate  collection  of  seeds  which  often  con- 
tained as  much  rank  weed  or  coarse  grass  as  nutritious 
herbage.  Coke  was  the  first  practical  farmer  who 
appreciated  the  value  of  distinguishing  between  the 
various  kinds  of  seed,1  and,  even  as  meadows  and 
pasture,  the  light  lands  of  Norfolk  at  length  beat  the 
grass-lands  of  other  counties,  despite  the  natural 
superiority  of  the  latter.  So  clearly  was  this  fact  recog- 
nised, that  the  Norfolk  fairs  became  crowded  with  half- 
fed  Galloway  Scots,  Highlanders,  Lowland  Scots  and 
Skye  cattle,  as  well  as  beasts  from  less  remote  districts, 
which  were  sent  to  the  eastern  counties  to  be  fattened 
for  the  London  markets. 

Another  improvement  which  he  brought  about  de- 
serves mention,  for  though  not  developed  by  him 
personally,  it  was  directly  due  to  his  promoting  agri- 
cultural progress,  and  was  handsomely  rewarded  by 
him.  A  tenant  of  his  at  Warham,  Mr.  Blomfield,  who 
farmed  on  the  Holkham  system  seventy  acres  very  near 
the  sea,  discovered  the  plan  of  what  he  termed  "  inocu- 
lating "  the  land.  This  first  occurred  to  him  from 
noticing  the  pieces  of  flag  along  the  hedgerows  being 
well  beaten  with  a  spade.  The  country  was  absolutely 
without  old  pasture,  and  the  attempt  to  "  lay  down" 
land,  as  it  was  called,  was  very  expensive.  Blomfield 
tried  placing  two  pieces  of  grass-turf  of  flag  about 
three  and  a  half  inches  square  at  certain  distances, 
leaving  an  interval  between  them  uncovered  equal  to 
that  which  was  covered.  This  turf  was  well  rammed 
down  in  the  winter  months,  and  in  the  spring  some 
grass  seeds  were  sown  on  the  uncovered  spots.  Before 

1  See  Social  England,  ed.  H.  D.  Traill  (1893-7),  Vol«  VI»  P-  80. 


276  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

the  end  of  the  summer  the  flag  had  extended  itself, 
and,  uniting  the  whole,  appeared  to  be,  and  was  actually 
equivalent  to  old  pasture  of  fifty  years.  Thirty  acres  of 
wretched  soil  near  Mr.  Blomfield's  house,  which  were 
practically  valueless  before  this  system  was  adopted, 
soon  became  rich  land  ;  and  Coke,  delighted  at  this 
discovery,  at  once  prepared  a  large  piece  of  land  in 
view  of  the  house  at  Holkham  to  be  improved  in  this 
manner.1 

Many  volumes  might  be  filled  with  an  account  of 
Coke's  methods  and  his  ceaseless  experiments ;  but 
I  fear  these  technicalities  would  have  little  interest  for 
the  general  reader.  "  The  life-story  of  4  Coke  of  Nor- 
folk,' we  are  told,  u  is  too  much  made  up  of  agricultural 
technicalities  to  be  generally  attractive,  but  to  the 
Norfolk  farmer  it  reads  like  a  romance — an  agricultural 
romance."2  Lord  Spencer,  however,  sums  up  Coke's 
system  briefly : 

Improved  rotations  of  crops. 

The  application  of  marl  and  clay. 

The  judicious  use  of  artificial  organic  manures. 

The  adoption  of  a  more  profitable  description  of  live 
stock. 

Exciting  the  general  use  of  the  drill. 

Concluding  that  the  interest  of  the  landlord  and 
tenant  were  too  closely  united  ever  to  be  dissociated. 

Granting  leases  of  a  liberal  nature  and  extent, 
burdened  by  few  restricting  covenants ;   his  theory 

1  The  real  reason  of  its  great  success  on  a  soil  not  adapted  to  good 
turf  is  that  some  of  the  rich  mellow  soil  on  which  the  turf  has  been 
flourishing  goes  with  the  roots  and  imparts  new  vigour  to  the  unsuitable 
soil.    The  cost  was  about  thirty-five  to  forty  shillings  per  acre. 

2  Highways  and  Byways  in  East  Anglia,  by  Joseph  Rennel,  pp.  233-4. 


-i8i8]    AGRICULTURAL  LABOURS  CONTD-  277 

being  that  these,  while  they  cripple  the  exertions  of  a 
good  farmer,  but  seldom  improve  the  bigoted  and 
indolent. 

To  this  must  be  added  the  magnificent  rewards 
which  he  gave  as  an  encouragement  to  industry  and 
enterprise,  whenever  he  came  across  them,  together  with 
the  splendid  annual  prizes  at  the  Sheep-shearings;  and 
thus  we  glean  a  faint  outline  of  the  system  he  pursued. 
At  the  Sheep-shearing  in  the  year  1808,  for  instance, 
we  read  that  he  gave  ten  silver  tankards  value 
ten  guineas  each,  a  bowl  value  twenty  guineas,  liberal 
prizes  in  money  to  all  the  farmers  and  shepherds  who 
had  reared  fine  sheep  and  lambs,  and  still  more  ample 
prizes  in  money  or  plate  to  competitors  who  exhibited 
successful  new  implements  to  aid  any  form  of  industry. 

Yet  in  spite  of  his  generosity  and  in  spite  of  his 
unrivalled  perseverance,  he  had,  in  carrying  out  his 
schemes,  to  contend  with  incredible  opposition.  All 
that  prejudice  and  ignorance  could  do  to  thwart  him 
was  done.  The  old  race  of  Norfolk  farmers  were  stolid 
and  obstinate.  Seldom  moving  many  miles  from  the 
place  where  they  were  born,  they  were  wedded  to  old 
methods  and  to  what  their  fathers  had  taught  before 
them.  In  the  first  instance,  no  doubt,  Coke's  youth 
told  against  him.  That  one  who  was  a  mere  lad  in  the 
eyes  of  most  of  them  should  presume  to  meddle  with 
old-time  saws  and  knowledge  that  had  descended  to 
them  from  generations  of  forbears,  was  an  insult  to 
their  most  cherished  traditions.  Coke's  experiments 
were  ridiculed,  his  motives  misunderstood,  his  liber- 
ality met  with  disheartening  ingratitude — even  so  late 


278  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 
as  1804,  with  open  riot  and  violence.  His  less  aggres- 
sive opponents  scoffed  at  the  notion  that  his  "  rabbit 
and  rye  lands  "  were  capable  of  better  cultivation,  and 
declared  that  the  thin  drifty  soil  must  be  ploughed  by 
" rabbits  yoked  to  a  pocket-knife."  "It  is  difficult," 
Coke  admitted  patiently,  "to  teach  anything  to  adult 
ignorance.  I  had  to  contend  with  prejudice,  an  igno- 
rant impatience  of  change,  and  a  rooted  attachment  to 
old  methods." 1 

Even  when  he  had  proved  that  wheat  would  grow,  no 
one  followed  his  example.  It  was  nine  years  before 
any  one  attempted  to  imitate  him,  and  then  at  last  Mr. 
Overman  having  made  the  experiment,  others  slowly, 
very  slowly,  followed  his  example.  It  is  curious  that 
nothing  spreads  more  leisurely  than  any  innovation  in 
the  agricultural  world.  Perhaps  the  brains  of  tillers 
of  the  soil  are  naturally  unprogressive  and  conserva- 
tive ;  for  whereas  in  a  manufacturing  centre  any  im- 
provement in  machinery  is  usually  adopted  directly  its 
advantage  is  proved,  in  an  agricultural  district  any 
change  is  regarded  with  suspicion,  and  a  discovery, 
even  when  admitted  to  be  advantageous,  is  too  often 
allowed  to  lapse  into  oblivion  rather  than  be  adopted. 
For  sixteen  years  Coke  used  the  drill  before  any  one 
could  be  induced  to  do  so ; 2  even  when  the  farmers 
at  last  began  to  recognise  the  advantage  of  the  quicker 
method,  he  estimated  that  its  use  spread  only  at  the 
rate  of  a  mile  a  year.    "  When  I  introduced  the  drill," 

1  Dr.  Rigby's  Holkham  and  its  Agriculture  (1818). 

2  The  farmers  persisted  in  the  old  method  of  sowing  the  grain  broad- 
cast, i.e.  casting  it  upon  the  land ;  or  else  in  dibbing,  i.e.  laboriously  making 
holes  with  a  dibbing-iron  into  which  the  grain  was  dropped,  while 
another  man  followed  with  a  rake  and  covered  the  holes  over. 


-i8i8]   AGRICULTURAL  LABOURS  CONTD-  279 

he  said  afterwards,  "it  was  a  long  time  before  I  could 
get  a  disciple."  It  used  to  be  said:  "Oh,  it's  very- 
beautiful — and  it's  very  well  for  Mr.  Coke!"  but  that  it 
might  be  equally  "well"  for  Mr.  Coke's  tenants  was 
carefully  ignored.  By  and  by,  however,  he  discovered 
that  a  quaint  term  for  a  good  crop  of  barley  had  come 
into  use  upon  the  estate.  His  farmers  called  it  hat- 
barley,  for  the  reason  that  if  a  man  throws  his  hat  into 
a  crop,  the  hat  rests  on  the  surface  if  the  crop  is  good, 
but  falls  to  the  ground  if  it  is  bad.  "All,  sir,"  pro- 
nounced his  tenants  at  length,  "is  4  hat-barley'  since 
the  drill  came  ! " 1 

In  short,  where  a  weaker  man  would  have  given  up 
the  struggle,  Coke  succeeded  because  he  was  not  of 
a  nature  to  be  daunted.  The  more  opposition  he  en- 
countered, the  more  determined  he  was  to  succeed. 
He  used  to  tell  many  amusing  stories  of  the  want  of 
grit  with  which  he  had  to  contend.  One  day  a  well-to- 
do  tenant  came  to  hire  a  farm  on  the  Holkham  estate 
which  he  had  heard  was  to  let.  The  farm  proved  to  be 
close  to  the  park,  and  on  seeing  this,  and  how  the  place 
abounded  with  game,  the  intending  tenant  refused  it 
decisively.  Blakie  went  to  Coke  and  told  him  that  the 
man  had  seen  the  farm  and  had  declined  it,  considering 
it  impossible  to  grow  crops  profitably  upon  it.  "  Oh," 
said  Coke,  "don't  let  him  go  without  first  coming  to 
speak  to  me."  The  man,  consequently,  was  brought 
to  Coke  and  repeated  his  unalterable  decision  not  to 
hire  the  farm.  "Pray,"  said  Coke  quietly,  "did  you 
happen  to  see  my  crops  adjoining  the  farm,  just  inside 

1  General  View  of  the  Agriculture  of  Norfolk,  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Agriculture  (1804),  p.  251. 


280  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 
th  e  park  palings?"  "  Why,  yes,  sir,"  was  the  reply, 
' '  they  are  first-class."  "  And  what  then  is  the  matter 
with  the  paling?"  asked  Coke;  "  isn't  it  possible  to 
grow  as  good  crops  one  side  of  the  paling  as  the 
other?"  "  I  don't  know,  sir,"  was  the  dubious  answer; 
and  the  man  took  his  departure.  Two  days  later  he 
again  put  in  an  appearance  at  Holkham  and  asked  to 
see  the  Squire.  On  being  brought  into  Coke's  presence, 
he  announced  solemnly:  "  Sir,  I  have  been  unable  to 
sleep  the  last  two  nights  for  thinking  of  what  you  said 
about  growing  as  good  crops  outside  the  park  pales 
as  inside,  and  I  have  been  looking  at  the  farm  again, 
and  if  you  please,  I  will  take  it  at  the  rent  you  ask."  The 
bargain  was  immediately  concluded,  the  tenant  proved 
satisfactory,  and  the  crops  subsequently  grown  out- 
side the  park  pales  corresponded  with  those  grown 
inside  ! 

It  was  partly  Coke's  patience  which  prevailed  against 
the  inherent  stubbornness  of  the  natures  with  which  he 
had  to  contend,  partly  that  he  took  an  infinitude  of  pains 
to  enter  into  their  objections  and  prejudices,  and  to  learn 
what  justifiable  grounds  existed  for  the  opinions  to  which 
they  held  so  tenaciously.  But  principally  his  was  the 
influence  of  a  strong  nature  imbued  with  strong  con- 
victions. That  profound  honesty  which  constituted 
his  power  in  the  political  world  stood  him  in  good 
stead  with  his  Norfolk  farmers.  He  often  said  that  he 
never  ventured  to  give  an  opinion  on  any  subject  till 
after  three  years'  trial  ;  until  then,  he  looked  upon  his 
experiments  as  a  mere  amusement.  None  the  less,  so 
unused  was  he  to  failure,  so  ill  schooled  to  bear  even 
its  suggestion,  that  when  any  part  of  his  experimental 


-i8i8]    AGRICULTURAL  LABOURS  CONTD-  281 

farming  was  unsuccessful,  he  would,  while  riding 
about  his  estate,  turn  his  head  resolutely  away  from  the 
obnoxious  sight — much  in  the  same  manner  as  he 
refused  ever  again  to  look  upon  the  scene  of  his  first 
failure  at  Newmarket.  But,  once  successful,  once  con- 
vinced of  the  utility  of  any  particular  practice  or 
invention,  his  sheer  determination  that  this  should  be 
adopted  swept  opposition  and  ignorance  before  it. 

One  curious  instance  of  the  difficulties  which  he  had 
to  encounter  was  the  deep-rooted  prejudice  which 
then  existed  in  Norfolk  against  potatoes.  He  tried  to 
introduce  this  vegetable  amongst  the  villagers  at 
Holkham,  but  great  was  their  indignation.  For  five 
years  he  could  not  induce  them  to  look  upon  it  as  an 
article  of  food,  or  to  consent  to  cultivate  it.  He  even 
offered  them  land  rent  free  on  which  to  plant  it,  but 
they  refused  firmly  and  with  outspoken  disgust.  At 
length,  upon  his  own  farm,  he  introduced  the  Ox 
Noble,  a  very  large  species,  and  this,  apparently  from 
its  size,  found  a  little  favour  in  their  eyes,  for  a  few 
farmers  admitted,  as  a  great  concession,  that,  perhaps, 
" 't  wouldn't  poison  tha' pigs."  He  persevered,  how- 
ever, and,  in  time,  he  would  have  had  as  great  a 
difficulty  in  persuading  his  tenants  not  to  eat  potatoes 
as  he  had  at  first  in  inducing  them  to  risk  swallowing 
such  a  suspicious  article  of  diet.  After  his  success  he 
allowed  the  poor  to  plant  potatoes  among  his  young 
trees  for  two  or  three  years,  which  kept  his  land  clean, 
and  saved  hoeing. 

An  interesting  contemporary  account  of  the  attitude 
of  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Coke  towards  strangers  who 
approached  them  in  the  spirit  of  inquiry  is  given  by 


282  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

two  celebrated  farmers,  J.  Boys,  of  Betshanger,  in  Kent, 
and  J.  Ellman,  of  Glynde,  in  Sussex,  who  visited 
Holkham  in  July,  1792,  and  which  shows  that  Mrs. 
Coke,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  from  the  first  days  of  her 
married  life,  was  specially  interested  in  promoting 
industry  in  Norfolk,  not  only  entered  into  her  husband's 
schemes,  but  must  have  been  qualified  to  aid  him  in 
furthering  them. 

It  appears  that  these  two  men  were  to  have  met 
Arthur  Young  at  Holkham  for  a  tour  of  inspection  ; 
but  upon  their  arrival,  to  their  "  great  mortification," 
they  found  that  Mr.  Young  had  been  prevented  from 
coming  and  had  written  instead  to  introduce  them  to 
their  unknown  host.  At  that  moment,  they  were  in- 
formed, Mr.  Coke  was  riding  with  the  ladies  about  his 
farms,  so  they  set  off,  by  request,  to  find  him  ;  and 
their  first  dismay  soon  gave  place  to  an  immense  satis- 
faction. "  We  meet  here,"  Boys  related  complacently, 
"  with  a  reception  far  superior  to  that  which  arises  from 
mere  politeness,  and  which  we  plainly  perceive  will 
detain  us  longer  than  we  had  intended  ! " 

From  their  arrival  till  dinner-time,  and  from  dinner- 
time till  the  evening,  Mr.  Coke  devoted  his  attention  to 
them.  He  showed  them  his  crops  with  many  stout 
oxen  at  work,  his  bulls  and  other  splendid  beasts,  some 
of  which  they  measured,  his  dairy  of  fifty  cows,  his 
two  hundred  score  sheep,  his  ewes, — "the  finest  we 
ever  beheld."  "  Mr.  Coke's  farm,"  Boys  says,  "con- 
sists of  three  thousand  acres  within  a  fence,  farmed  in 
a  very  capital  style,  to  describe  which  would  require  a 
pen  and  abilities  far  beyond  what  we  possess — in  short, 
it  appeared  altogether  a  perfect  paradise  "  ;  and  in  his 


-i8i8]    AGRICULTURAL  LABOURS  CONTD-  283 

lengthy  account  he  gives  little  homely  touches  which 
bring  the  scene  before  one's  eyes — how,  near  the  sea, 
the  yearling  heifers  were  feeding  upon  very  rich  salt- 
marsh,  "in  grass  up  to  their  eyes";  how  he  found 
"the  rams  so  uncommonly  fat  that  it  would  be  vain  for 
them  to  attempt  to  waddle  away  from  us,"  and  how,  on 
his  return,  in  the  beautiful  July  evening,  he  found  "a 
fine  group  on  the  lawn  of  valets,  footmen,  grooms, 
cooks,  women  and  labourers  to  the  amount  of  sixty 
persons,  all  busy  getting  hay  into  cocks,"  a  merry, 
busy  scene  in  which,  in  a  private  letter,  he  admits  that 
he  and  his  friend  could  not  resist  joining.  "The  house," 
he  concludes,  "is  a  palace  of  the  first-rate  !" — though 
his  professional  admiration  breaks  out  more  enthusiastic- 
ally when,  in  the  same  breath,  he  describes  the  slaughter- 
house, a  "  very  extensive  and  elegant  building  ! " 

The  next  day  was  audit  day,  and  Coke  with  many 
tiring  hours  before  him,  yet  met  the  two  men  by 
appointment  before  breakfast  at  his  stables,  and  at 
seven  o'clock  they  mounted  their  horses  and  rode 
away  to  the  marsh  lands  along  the  coast  to  study  the 
grazing,  etc.,  on  their  way  back  inspecting  the  brick 
manufactory,  "where  are  made  by  far  the  best  bricks 
we  ever  saw."  After  breakfast  Coke  was  obliged  to 
attend  to  receive  his  rents,  whereupon  Mrs.  Coke 
ordered  horses,  and  herself  offered  to  accompany  them 
to  view  the  farms,  the  dwellings  on  which  again  called 
forth  their  admiration  :  "Nothing  can  exceed  the  con- 
venient arrangement  of  these  buildings  for  the  farmer  ; 
nor  the  wonderful  liberality  of  this  gentleman  in  thus 
spending  a  princely  income  in  making  his  tenants 
comfortable  and  happy." 


284  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

For  thirty  miles  Mrs.  Coke  rode  with  them  before  the 
early  dinner,  pointing  out  the  improvements,  and  enter- 
ing into  the  technicalities  of  agriculture  with  an  enthu- 
siasm and  a  minute  knowledge  of  each  subject  which 
surprised  and  delighted  them.  Little  can  she  have 
thought  that  that  simple  act  of  good  nature  would  be 
recorded  for  future  generations  ;  but  Boys'  account  of 
it  has  survived  for  over  a  century.  "  It  is  impossible  to 
describe,"  he  relates  with  a  quaint  simplicity,  "either 
the  pleasure  we  enjoyed  in  this  morning  ride  or  the 
agreeable  surprise  in  meeting  with  such  an  amiable 
lady  in  high  life,  so  well  acquainted  with  agriculture, 
and  so  condescending  as  to  attend  two  farmers  out 
of  Kent  and  Sussex  a  whole  morning  to  show  them 
some  Norfolk  farms.  What  improvements,"  he  adds, 
"would  be  made  in  this  country,  if  one  half  of  the 
gentry  of  landed  property  understood  and  delighted  in 
agriculture  like  this  worthy  family!"1 — And  so,  after 
"taking  dinner  with  the  ladies  and  company  above," 
while  Mr.  Coke  entertained  his  tenants  in  the  audit 
room  below,  the  two  men  rode  away  from  Holkham 
much  edified  by  all  they  had  seen,  and  singing  the 
praises  of  "the  hospitable  mansion  and  its  worthy 
inhabitants." 

With  regard  to  some  of  Coke's  favourite  theories 
and  minor  experiments,  it  may  be  interesting  to 
mention  that  he  was  a  great  advocate  for  early 
sowing  the  wheat  very  thick  in  rows,  and  early 
cutting,  even  when  the  ear  and  stem  are  green  and 
the  grain  not  hard.  He  said  he  got  two  shillings 
a   quarter  for   it   more  than   wheat  cut  in  a  more 

1  Vol.  XIX  of  the  Annals  of  Agriculture  (1793),  p.  118. 


-i8i8]    AGRICULTURAL  LABOURS  CONTD-  285 

mature  state.  He  was  equally  early  in  cutting  oats  and 
peas,  saying  that  he  should  lose  more  by  the  falling  of 
the  ripe  seed  at  the  bottoms  than  he  should  gain  by 
waiting  till  the  rest  were  ripe. 

He  also  greatly  improved  the  cultivation  of  turnips, 
and  furthered  the  cultivation  of  mangel-wurzel ;  but 
against  this  latter,  for  a  long  time,  he  was  much 
prejudiced.  Mangel-wurzel  when  first  introduced  into 
Norfolk  had  been  given  to  cattle  at  too  early  a  stage, 
had  been  found  to  be  prejudicial,  and  was  consequently 
abandoned.  Sir  Mordaunt  Martin,  of  Burnham 
Upton,  however  begged  Coke  to  resume  its  cultivation, 
and  we  are  told  that  although  Mr.  Coke  "  had  always 
laughed  at  mangel-wurzel,  and  cannot  bear  the  taste  of 
beetroot,  he  will  nevertheless  sow  some  of  it  on  his 
estate  next  year."1  The  result  of  this  decision  was 
that  experience  soon  taught  him  the  proper  method  of 
using  mangel-wurzel ;  it  was  again  cultivated  through- 
out the  country,  and  came  into  great  favour. 

He  moreover  made  a  special  study  of  the  use  of  par- 
ticular birds  in  relation  to  the  destruction  of  particular 
grubs.  Once,  when  there  was  a  plague  of  black  canker 
— a  larva  which  feeds  upon  turnips — he  turned  four 
hundred  ducks  into  a  large  field,  and  found  that  in  five 
days  they  had  cleared  the  whole  field  from  all  trace  of 
the  larva.2 

An  entry  written  by  him  in  an  old  notebook  records 
the  following  : — 

"  The  mode  adopted  in  some  parts  of  Fifeshire  for 
protecting  new  sown  fields  from  crows,  wood-pigeons, 
and  other  destructive  vermin,  is  the  following  :    In  a 

1  Norfolk  Tour,  1829,  p.  32.      2  Annals  of  Agriculture,  Vol.  II,  p.  376. 


286  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 


large  field  which  has  been  newly  sown,  place  a 
number  of  stamps,  say  a  dozen  (used  for  killing  rats, 
etc.),  cover  them  lightly  with  earth,  and  avoid  by  all 
means  anything  like  methodical  arrangement  of  the 
stamps.  A  few  crows  taken  by  such  means  will 
serve  as  so  many  beacons  to  protect  the  field.  The 
noise  they  make  is  incredible.  By  this  simple 
operation  many  pounds  sterling  will,  in  the  long  run, 
be  saved  to  the  agriculturist.  And,  besides,  it  is 
believed  that  in  a  short  time  the  crows  would  be  as 
much  afraid  of  a  new-sown  field  as  of  the  gun.  They 
would  therefore  confine  themselves  to  the  end  for 
which  Providence  designed  them  ;  viz.  the  destroy- 
ing of  grubs. 

"  In  Dupplin,  in  the  county  of  Perth,  it  is  said 
that  no  less  than  eleven  or  twelve  thousand  nests  and 
about  twenty-seven  thousand  crows  were  destroyed 
one  spring  by  Messrs.  Stirton.  It  was  done  by 
contract  for  the  sum  of  £25.  The  above  simple  con- 
trivance would  have  avoided  this  wholesale  slaughter, 
and  the  loss  of  birds  which  are  of  use  to  the  farmer 
in  the  destroying  of  pernicious  grubs."1 

1  A  few  other  entries  jotted  down  by  Mr.  Keppel  in  1837  as  Notes  on 
Farming  from  Conversations  with  Lord  Leicester,  also  have  an  interest : — 

"Wheat  should  not  be  sown  deep,  say  about  three  inches,  for  the 
sooner  it  shows  itself  the  better,  and  hence  the  true  and  old  saying : 
If  you  sow  in  slop 
You  will  have  a  crop." 

"  Lord  Leicester  pays  his  ploughmen  one  shilling  and  sixpence  an 
acre  ;  they  plough  about  one  and  a  half  acres  per  day,  and  are  allowed 
five  hours  each  to  do  it  in,  of  course  using  only  one  pair  at  a  time.  The 
wheat  is  drilled  eleven  inches  wide,  but  if  the  land  be  good,  at  twelve." 

"  When  harvest  is  over,  begin  ploughing  for  wheat.  The  sooner  this 
is  done  in  the  month  of  September,  the  better ;  wheat  being  found  to  be 
more  productive  when  sown  on  an  old  layer.  Plough  as  fleet  as  you  can, 
two  and  a  half  inches  deep.  If  you  can  afford  to  manure  for  wheat,  let 
this  be  done  just  previous  to  ploughing  ;  not  as  many  farmers  do — viz. 
mucking  their  land  weeks  beforehand,  by  which  means  the  heat  of  the 
sun  absorbs  much  of  the  moisture  and  consequently  deprives  the  manure 
of  much  of  its  goodness." 

"  Wheat  ought  not  to  tiller.    Lord  Leicester  has  for  many  years  been 


-i8i8]    AGRICULTURAL  LABOURS  CONTD-  287 

In  conclusion,  Coke  was  an  original  member  of  the 
Board  of  Agriculture,  and  is  named  in  the  charter 
granted  by  George  III  on  August  23rd,  1793.1  On 
March  12th,  1806,  the  Board  voted  a  Gold  Medal  to 
him  for  his  extensive  system  of  irrigation,  and  "for 
the  very  successful  mode  by  which  a  tract  of  unprofit- 
able, boggy  and  gravelly  soil  in  Norfolk  was  converted 
into  sound  and  excellent  water  meadows." 

At  the  present  date,  however,  an  impression  appears 
to  prevail  that  Coke's  labours  were  confined  to  the  mere 
enriching  of  soil  and  pasture  and  the  improvement  of 
live  stock;  also  that,  permanently  excluded  from  Parlia- 
ment, he  was  at  leisure  to  devote  all  his  energies  to  this 
betterment  of  his  estate  and  advancement  of  agricul- 
ture.2 That  this  was  very  far  from  being  the  case  we 
have  seen  ;  not  only,  throughout  his  life,  did  his  political 
duties  receive  a  large  proportion  of  his  time  and 
energy,  but  his  agricultural  labours  knew  no  limit. 
Still  more,  other  forms  of  industry  and  enterprise 
received  his  support  and  encouragement.  He  instituted 
Thetford  Wool  Fair,  the  first  institution  of  the  kind 

in  the  habit  of  drilling  four  bushels  an  acre  ;  here  is  no  tillering,  conse- 
quently no  mildew,  which  is  generally  the  attendant  on  a  thin  plant ;  and 
a  thin  plant  only  can  tiller." 

"Lord  Leicester's  tenants  are  not  allowed  to  sow  oats  for  the  last 
four  years  of  the  lease,  and  generally  among  good  agriculturists  the 
tenants  are  not  allowed  to  sell  hay,  straw,  or  turnips,  in  order  that 
the  land  may  not  be  impoverished  by  the  want  of  stock,  and,  thereby, 
the  want  of  manure." 

1  In  the  earliest  list  of  Members  he  is  described  as  being  "of 
Hanover  Square." 

2  "  Excluded  by  his  politics  from  Court  and  Parliament,  he  devoted  all 
his  energies  to  farming"  {Social  England,  ed.  H.  D.  Traill,  Vol.  VI, 
p.  78).  It  is  curious  that  such  an  error  should  exist  respecting  a  man 
who  was  for  over  half  a  century  an  active  member  in  the  House. 


288  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

ever  introduced  into  England,  and  he  is  said  to  have 
done  as  much  for  the  trade  in  wool  as  he  did  for 
the  trade  in  corn.  He  encouraged  a  Hemp  and 
Flax  Industry;  and,  as  we  have  also  seen,  he  had 
a  brick  manufactory  on  his  estate  which  turned  out 
excellent  red  and  white  bricks.  In  short,  the  area  of 
his  experiments  comprised  every  branch  of  agriculture 
and  every  branch  of  local  industry,  while  it  is  prac- 
tically impossible  to  convey  any  adequate  conception 
of  his  secondary  labours  in  imparting  and  promoting 
the  knowledge  that  he  arduously  obtained. 


-i8i8] 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  RESULT  OF  THE  LABOURS  IN  ENGLAND 

WE  may  now  briefly  compare  these  early 
labours  of  Coke's  with  their  practical 
result,  brought  about  during  his  own  life- 
time. 

Not  until  1778,  two  years  after  Coke  had  first  collected 
the  farmers  together  to  discuss  matters  agricultural, 
did  this  local  gathering  assume  a  more  definite  character. 
This  came  about,  apparently,  without  special  effort  on 
his  part.  First,  his  farmers  brought  with  them  their 
own  relations  and  friends.  These,  in  turn,  brought 
others  from  a  yet  greater  distance.  Next,  agriculturists 
from  more  remote  parts  of  the  kingdom  wrote  to  ask  if 
they  might  attend.  Swiftly  and  steadily  grew  the  fame 
of  "  Coke's  Clippings"  as  they  were  called  locally  ;  till 
scientists  of  note  turned  their  attention  to  them,  and 
men  of  celebrity  from  other  countries  came  to  England 
in  order  to  be  present  at  them  ;  till,  year  by  year,  they 
assumed  greater  proportions,  so  that,  as  we  shall  see 
later,  they  became  representative  of  every  nationality, 
British  and  foreign  ;  of  every  phase  of  intellect, 
scientific  and  simple ;  of  every  rank,  from  crowned 
heads  to  petty  farmers.  It  was  Lafayette's  greatest 
regret  that  he  had  never  witnessed  a  Holkham  Sheep- 
shearing;  in  1818  the  Emperor  of  Russia  sent  a  special 
1.— u  289 


290  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

message  to  say  how  he  wished  he  could  be  present;1 
among  the  most  famous  names  on  the  page  of  contem- 
porary American  history  are  men  who  journeyed  from 
the  other  hemisphere  expressly  to  take  part  in  so  unique 
a  gathering.  And  meanwhile  the  rule  which  had 
characterised  the  meetings  in  their  early  simplicity  was 
never  departed  from  ;  all  united  thus  in  a  common  in- 
terest, met  on  common  grounds  ;  the  suggestions  of 
the  simplest  farmer  were  treated  with  the  same  respect 
as  the  conclusions  of  the  most  noted  scientist;  the  same 
pains  were  taken  in  explaining  to  the  former  as  to  the 
latter  the  intricacies  of  a  new  system,  or  the  merits  of 
a  new  implement ;  the  same  courtesy  and  hospitality 
were  experienced  by  the  most,  as  by  the  least  distin- 
guished guest. 

And,  year  after  year,  another  rule  was  never  departed 
from.  Politics  were  carefully  excluded  from  these 
meetings.  Any  attempt  to  introduce  a  party  spirit 
into  the  toasts  or  speeches  was  at  once  silenced  by 
Coke.  Still,  in  his  political  character,  he  was  a  friend 
and  a  leader  of  Whigs,  still  in  his  agricultural  capacity 
he  sank  politics  and  opened  his  doors  to  men  of  brain 
and  merit  irrespective  of  their  views.  "  Live  and  let 
live"  was  a  maxim  which,  in  his  eyes,  embraced  all 
humanity.  The  first  time  this  rule  was  infringed  was 
the  last.  Never  until  1821  were  politics  tolerated  at  a 
Holkham  Sheep-shearing;  and  then  it  was  subsequently 
recognised  to  have  been  an  evil  omen,  for  that  Sheep- 
shearing  proved  to  be  the  final  one. 

Thus  the  " Clippings,"  which  were  always  dated  from 
1778,  extended  over  a  period  of  forty-three  years,  until 

1  Sent  by  Dr.  Hamel,  a  Russian  physician, 


-i8i8]  RESULT  OF  LABOURS  IN  ENGLAND  291 

that  ominous  year  of  182 1  ;  and,  during  that  time,  it  is 
said  that  not  a  single  year  passed  without  some  dis- 
covery being  made,  either  of  avoidance  or  adoption, 
and  some  practical  benefit  accruing  to  the  human  race. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  accounts  of  these  meet- 
ings and  of  Mr.  Coke's  system  of  agriculture  appeared 
in  1816  in  a  little  book  written  by  Dr.  Rigby,  called 
Holkham  and  its  Agriculture^  which  met  with  an 
astonishing  reception. 

For  fifty-nine  years  in  Norwich  lived  Dr.  Rigby,  its 
author,  first  studying,  and  then  practising  medicine. 
He  obtained  a  European  reputation  by  his  writings  on 
medical  subjects  ;  to  which  he  afterwards  added  a  local 
reputation  by  becoming  the  father  of  twelve  children, 
four  of  whom,  three  boys  and  one  girl,  were  born  at  a 
birth,  when  he  was  seventy  and  his  wife  forty  years  of 
age.  So  struck  were  the  Corporation  of  Norwich  by 
his  patriotic  efforts  on  this  occasion,  that  they  presented 
him  with  a  piece  of  plate,  valued  at  twenty-five  guineas, 
to  celebrate  the  event.  Dr.  Rigby's  maternal  grand- 
father, Dr.  J.  Taylor,  the  Hebraist,  had  likewise  been 
noted  in  his  day,  and  all  the  descendants  of  that  suc- 
cessful divine  were  so  gifted  with  brains  that  Sydney 
Smith1  said  of  them  that  they  reversed  the  old  proverb 
that  "  It  takes  nine  tailors  to  make  a  man."  Amongst 
other  celebrities,  Dr.  Taylor  was  an  ancestor  of  Harriet 
Martineau. 

Dr.  Rigby  was  abroad  at  the  outbreak  of  the  French 
Revolution,  and  witnessed  the  storming  of  the  Bastille, 
when  he  had  some  exciting  experiences  and  only  escaped 
from  Paris  at  the  risk  of  his  life  to  continue  his  tour 

1  Also  attributed  to  the  Duke  of  Sussex. 


292  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

abroad.1  After  his  return  to  his  peaceful  existence  in 
Norwich,  he  became  greatly  interested  in  all  that  he 
heard  of  young  Mr.  Coke's  experiments  in  agriculture  ; 
and  he  was  specially  struck  by  the  misrepresentation 
with  which,  at  this  date,  those  efforts  were  met. 

In  days  when  the  grossest  calumnies  were  spread 
broadcast  by  the  members  of  opposing  factions,  and 
were  treated  only  with  dignified  indifference  by  their 
victims,  it  must  have  been  not  a  little  confusing  to  sift 
truth  from  falsehood.  One  of  the  ignorant  accusations 
against  Mr.  Coke  was  that  he  was  enriching  himself 
at  the  expense  of  the  small  farmers ;  another,  that  the 
annual  Sheep-shearings  were  a  clever  contrivance  on 
his  part  to  gain  a  temporary  popularity  and  increase  his 
influence  at  elections  ;  a  third,  that  they  were  political 
meetings  in  disguise,  which  he  had  instituted  thus, 
in  order  to  blind  people  to  their  real  significance.  The 
injustice  of  these  charges  is  sufficiently  apparent — time 
conclusively  disproved  them — but  Dr.  Rigby,  naturally 
of  a  scientific  and  a  critical  turn  of  mind,  was  no  doubt 
perplexed  what  to  believe,  and  became  anxious  to  prove 
the  nature  and  extent  of  Coke's  efforts. 

In  1787  he  must  have  heard  that  Coke  had  begun  to 
grow  wheat  where  it  had  been  believed  that  none  would 
grow.2  In  1792-3  he  probably  read  J.  Boys'  account  of 
his  visit  to  Holkham — Boys,  who  had  noticed  with  the 
quick  eye  of  the  farmer  the  advantages  of  the  Holkham 
agriculture,  and  who,  at  that  date,  fourteen  years  after 
Coke  had  started  farming,  spoke  with  enthusiasm  of 

1  Dr.  Rigby's  Letters  front  France,  etc.,  in  1789,  edited  by  his  daughter 
Lady  Eastlake.    Longmans  (1880). 

2  Coke  of  Holkham,  by  Walter  Rye,  p.  5  (1895). 


-i8i8]  RESULT  OF  LABOURS  IN  ENGLAND  293 


"immense  fields  of  barley,  very  great  crops  and  per- 
fectly clean,  on  land  naturally  poor."1  In  1796  he  must 
have  heard  that  Coke,  who  was  the  greatest  planter  of 
sainfoin  in  the  district,  cut  365  loads  of  excellent  hay, 
rather  exceeding  a  ton  to  a  load,  from  104  acres ;  this 
from  a  plant  four  years  old,  upon  land  not  worth  more 
than  twelve  shillings  an  acre  for  any  other  purpose.2  Yet 
it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  till  1807,  thirty  years 
after  Coke  had  started  farming,  that  Dr.  Rigby  finally 
succeeded  in  paying  his  long-deferred  visit  to  Holkham. 

He  then  relates  many  interesting  details;  how,  at 
that  time,  Mr.  Coke's  establishment  consisted  of  sixty 
persons,  nearly  all  of  whom  were  recruited  from  his 
own  villagers  ;  how  his  postillions,  smart,  good-looking 
lads,  were  the  sons  of  his  own  labourers — in  fact,  when- 
ever Mr.  Coke  saw  a  lad  of  any  promise  he  always  en- 
deavoured to  find  him  some  post  in  his  employment,  in 
which,  if  steady  and  intelligent,  the  boy  could  better  his 
position  ;  how,  on  all  the  Holkham  estates,  there  was 
no  one  in  a  state  of  poverty,  no  one  out  of  employment, 
so  happily  was  work  provided  for  all ;  and  how,  in  the 
village,  people  appeared  to  idolise  Mr.  Coke,  and  had 
learnt  to  look  up  to  him  with  a  veneration  which  knew 
no  bounds.3    Dr.  Rigby  could  only  express  amazement 

1  Farmer  s  Magazine,  1793,  p.  4. 

2  Agricultural  Survey  of  Norfolk,  Nathaniel  Kent  (1796),  p.  63. 

3  "In  his  neighbourhood  (it  is  not  saying-  too  much)  he  was  idolised. 
.  .  .  His  constant  motto — that  which  influenced  his  acts,  and  which  he 
was  constantly  impressing  on  his  tenantry — was  'Live  and  let  live.' 
He  had  one  source  of  pride — he  gloried  in  his  tenantry,  and  they,  in  re- 
turn, loved,  revered,  and  looked  up  to  him  as  a  father.  The  darling 
object  of  his  life  was  to  render  them  independent — the  subject  he  derived 
most  pleasure  from  talking  upon  was  their  intelligence,  their  skill  in 
agriculture,  their  confidence  in  him"  {Derby  and  Chesterfield  Reporter, 
July  7th,  1842). 


294  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 


at  what  he  saw  ;  "  the  splendid  hospitality  of  Mr.  Coke, 
and  the  admirable  system  of  agriculture  by  which  his 
extensive  estate  has  been  converted  from  a  compara- 
tively barren  soil  to  the  most  rich  and  exuberant 
domain  in  this  part  of  the  kingdom,  fill  me  with  enthu- 
siasm on  the  subject." 
Again  he  writes  : — 

"  At  the  latter  end  of  August,  1816,  I  was  gratified 
by  a  visit  to  Holkham.  Everyone  who  visits  Mr. 
Coke  is  struck  with  the  beauty  of  the  Holkham 
scenery,  the  magnificence  of  his  mansion,  his  princely 
establishment  and  his  liberal  hospitality.  They 
impressed  me  forcibly.  ..." 

He  goes  on  to  relate  how  he  rode  with  Mr.  Coke  for 
several  hours,  on  two  successive  mornings,  and  his 
astonishment  at  the  exuberance  of  the  crops,  at  the 
richness  of  the  soil  and  at  its  extraordinary  freedom 
from  weeds.1    It  had  been  a  very  wet  season,  and  else- 

1  "  It  is  a  certain  and  most  striking-  fact,  and  that  which  appears  most 
wonderful  to  all  farmers  who  for  the  first  time  view  the  Holkham  Agri- 
culture, that  scarcely  a  weed  of  any  kind  is  to  be  seen  in  the  crops  ; 
fields  of  from  20  to  40  acres  lying  on  a  slope  and  all  in  one  view,  present 
neither  cornflower,  cockle,  nor  poppy  !  Upon  our  faculties,  when,  a  few 
years  ago,  we  witnessed  these  scenes,  that  had  something  of  the  effect  of 
magic.  In  other  places  where  culture  is  thought  to  be  well  performed, 
where  crops  are  good,  and  weeds  neither  very  noxious  nor  very  numer- 
ous, yet  some  wild  oats,  darnel,  hareweed,  or  charlock,  etc.  etc.,  will  be 
seen.  .  .  .  It  is  not  our  intention  here  to  compare  systems,  but  to  relate 
efforts.  Visitors  from  a  distance  are  apt  to  say — '  We  could  not  do  so, 
we  could  not  afford  the  expense.'  Others  observe — 'It  is  all  very  well 
under  such  a  landlord  as  Mr.  Coke  ! '  Some  assert  that  they  could  not 
get  hands  to  do  it ;  others  gravely  hint,  '  Only  think  of  the  manure  ! ' 
.  .  .  All  these  objections  are  so  many  eulogies  upon  the  system  pursued 
at  Holkham,  and  on  the  character  of  Mr.  Coke,  who  is  unquestionably 
the  greatest  patron  of  Agriculture  that  the  world  has  ever  seen  ;  and  the 
good  of  the  landlords  and  of  the  tenantry  and  of  the  kingdom  at  large 
will  be  promoted  in  proportion  as  his  example  spreads  and  the  influence 
of  his  system  prevails  "  {Farmer  s  Magazine ,  July  20th,  1818). 


-i8i8]  RESULT  OF  LABOURS  IN  ENGLAND  295 

where  weeds  were  plentiful ;  but  on  the  Holkham  estate, 
where  they  had  once  formed  the  chief  vegetation,  they 
were  so  successfully  eliminated  that  he  actually  pauses 
to  describe  how,  in  the  many  miles  which  they  must 
have  traversed,  he  saw  one  plant  of  charlock — Sinapis 
arvensis.  They  were  riding  over  Mr.  Blomfield's 
farm  of  seventy  acres  at  the  time,  and  with  them  was  a 
German  youth  who  was  living  with  Mr.  Blomfield 
to  learn  farming.  Dr.  Rigby,  perhaps  casually,  per- 
haps of  malice  prepense,  pointed  out  to  the  German 
the  solitary  specimen  of  unwelcome  vegetation  in  all 
those  acres  of  well-kept  land.  The  result  of  his  remark 
filled  him  with  amusement.  The  youth,  apparently 
overwhelmed  at  what  he  considered  the  personal  dis- 
grace involved  by  the  existence  of  this  single  weed, 
dismounted  hurriedly,  ran  to  the  spot,  plucked  up  the 
offending  plant  fiercely  by  the  roots  and  tore  it  to  frag- 
ments, all  the  while  speechless  with  annoyance  ! 

What  surprised  Dr.  Rigby  most,  however,  was  the 
richness  of  the  wheat  and  barley.  Mr.  Coke,  he  says, 
estimated  the  wheat  from  ten  to  twelve  coombs  an  acre, 
and  said  nearly  twenty  coombs  per  acre  of  barley  had 
grown  upon  it,  which  is  at  least  double  the  crop  in  the 
county  of  Norfolk,  and  nearly  treble  that  of  many  counties 
in  England.^ 

So  impressed  was  he  with  all  he  saw  that  he  forthwith 
wrote  his  book  Holkham  and  its  Agriculture,  which,  on 
its  publication  in  1816,  caused  an  unparalleled  sensa- 
tion. In  1818  there  appeared  a  third  and  enlarged 
edition,  revised  after  he  had  had  the  "  pleasure  and 

1  A  doubt  having  been  cast  on  this  assertion,  it  was  afterwards 
proved  by  experiment.    (See  Dr.  Rigby 's  Holkham  and  its  Agriculture.) 


296  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 


advantage  of  accompanying  Mr.  Coke  over  his  farms 
the  day  before  the  Sheep-shearing  on  July  5th  of  that 
year."  This  was  translated  into  three  different  lan- 
guages, and  had  an  extensive  sale  in  Germany,  France, 
Italy  and  America.1  In  it  he  described  his  visits  to 
Holkham  and  to  the  Sheep-shearing ;  he  defended 
Mr.  Coke  indignantly  from  the  misrepresentations  of 
his  enemies,  and  dwelt  in  terms  of  admiration  on  all 
Mr.  Coke  had  accomplished. 

In  1776,  he  says,  when  Coke  entered  upon  the  pos- 
session of  the  estate,  the  annual  rental  derived  therefrom 
was  £2200.  By  1816  the  rental  from  the  annual  fall  of 
timber  and  underwood  alone  was  £2700,  and,  despite 
Coke's  moderate  rents,  the  annual  income  from  the 
estate  was  £20, 000. 

"  Mr.  Coke,"  he  says,  "  gives  21  years'  leases,  and 
he  has  already  seen  the  termination  of  such  leases  on 
most  of  his  farms,  and,  though  he  continues  the  same 
encouraging  system  of  long  leases  and  moderate 
rents,  his  present  relatively  moderate  rents  .  .  . 
have  admitted  the  total  increase  of  his  Norfolk  rents 
to  the  enormous  sum  of  twenty  thousand  pounds  ;  an 
increase  of  the  value  of  landed  property,  a  creation  of 
wealth  probably  unexampled,  except  in  the  vicinity  of 
large  towns,  or  in  populous  manufacturing  districts." 

And,  after  dwelling  upon  the  complete  transforma- 
tion in  his  surroundings  which  Coke  had  effected,  he 
sums  up,  in  the  curious,  sententious  language  of  his 
day,  how  the  condition  of  the  estate — 

"Has  a  character  even  surpassing  the  highest 
natural  beauty — it  has  a  moral  character  which  leaves 

1  Such  universal  interest  did  it  arouse,  that  similar  publications 
appear  to  have  followed.  In  1820  Molard  published  in  France  a  work 
entitled  Systkme  d' Agriculture  suivi  par  M.  Coke. 


-i8i8]  RESULT  OF  LABOURS  IN  ENGLAND  297 


a  more  lasting  and  a  more  satisfactory  impression  on 
the  benevolent  mind.  ...  It  exhibits  man  under  his 
best  features,  and  in  his  happiest  state ;  it  is  the  field 
of  human  industry,  and  it  shows  its  rich  reward  ; — 
talent  and  invention — science  and  experiment — the 
principles  of  mechanics — the  discoveries  of  chemistry, 
and  the  investigations  of  Natural  History  are  here  all 
applied  to  the  promotion  of  the  first  and  most  impor- 
tant of  human  arts.  .  .  .  Society  at  large — the  pro- 
prietor of  the  soil — the  farmer  who  occupies  and 
cultivates  it,  and  the  labourer  and  artisan  who  work 
upon  it,  all  share  in  these  benefits — all  partake  of  the 
general  good.  I  am  indeed  unable  to  express  the 
high  moral  satisfaction  I  experience  in  witnessing 
the  enviable  state  of  the  labouring  classes  in  Mr. 
Coke's  parish.  ..." 

He  was  greatly  struck,  not  only  by  the  neatness  and 
comfort  of  their  well-built  cottages,  but  by  the  fact  of 
these  being  unusually  well  furnished,  "for  I  observed 
in  almost  all  of  them  articles  not  very  common  in  a 
poor  man's  cottage,  but  of  which  when  able  to  procure 
them,  the  poor  man  is  very  laudably  proud " ;  the 
manner  in  which  the  tables  at  meal  times  were  "not 
sparingly  covered,"  and  the  careful  cultivation  of  the 
gardens  annexed  to  each  cottage  also  came  in  for  a 
share  of  his  attention.  Yet  another  peculiarity  of  the 
village  impressed  him  :  "  There  is  but  one  thing  which 
could  not  be  found,  which  has  ever  been  reckoned 
desirable  to  enjoyment,  namely  an  alehouse  ;  there  had 
formerly  been  two,  but  they  had  long  since  been  con- 
verted to  other  purposes."  In  fact,  when  Coke  came 
into  his  estate  there  had  been  not  only  two  alehouses 
in  the  village,  but  a  poor-house,  supported  out  of  the 
rates,  had  been  built  for  the  parishes  of  Holkham, 
Warham  and  Dereham,  which  was  always  fully  occu- 


298  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

pted.  Later,  both  these  alehouses  had  vanished  for 
lack  of  customers,  and,  twenty-five  years  after  the 
erection  of  the  workhouse,  a  deputation  waited  upon 
Coke  to  inform  him  that  it  was  a  senseless  burden  to 
keep  it  up,  as  now  it  was  always  empty,  and  it  had 
better  be  converted  to  some  other  use.  Coke  told  them 
to  consider  well  what  they  were  about,  and  to  look 
forward  to  times  when  they  might  not  be  so  prosperous. 
They  only  replied  that  by  the  spirit  of  independence 
which  their  comfort  inspired,  and  the  certainty  of 
labour,  they  were  convinced  they  need  dread  no  reverse, 
for  the  whole  district  now  was  industrious  and  moral. 
The  workhouse  was  therefore  pulled  down,  and  the 
rates  lowered.1 

Again  one  is  reminded  of  the  verdict  of  Voltaire 
respecting  the  highest  philosophy  of  life.  "True  philo- 
sophy," he  says,  "makes  the  earth  fertile,  and  the 
people  happier  ;  the  true  philosopher  cultivates  the 
land,  increases  the  number  of  ploughs  and  so  of  the 
inhabitants ;  occupies  the  poor  man  and  thus  enriches 
him,  does  nojt  grumble  at  necessary  taxes  and  puts  the 
labourer  in  a  condition  to  pay  them  promptly."  And 
in  sympathy  with  the  great  French  philosopher,  Dr. 
Rigby,  on  his  return  home,  wrote  to  Coke  (July  20th, 
1818)  :— 

"  I  have  to  thank  you  for  many,  very  many  things, 
and  now  that  I  am  a  little  sobered  from  the  delightful 
intoxication  into  which  I  was  thrown  at  Holkham,  I 
may  attempt  it.  ...  I  feel,  however,  that  I  must 
first  do  it  as  a  man;  I  must  thank  you  for  the  ex- 
tensive good  you  have  rendered  to  the  Human  Race  ; 
you  have  indeed  been  a  Benefactor  to  your  Fellow 

1  Holkham  and  its  Agriculture,  third  edition  (1818),  p.  79. 


-i8i8]  RESULT  OF  LABOURS  IN  ENGLAND  299 


Creatures,  of  the  very  first  class  ;  you  have  improved 
and  extended  the  most  useful  and  important  of  human 
Arts  : — By  exciting  a  more  general  Attention  to  this 
Subject,  and  by  inducing  so  many  more  Individuals 
practically  to  engage  in  Agriculture,  you  have  en- 
larged the  Boundary  of  human  Enjoyment ;  and  you 
have  proved  how  much  this  is  capable  of  exercising 
and  improving  the  best  powers  of  our  Understand- 
ing." 

In  the  same  strain  of  stilted  but  heart-felt  admiration, 
he  dwelt  at  great  length  on  his  recent  impressions  at 
Holkham,  referring  also  to  those  of  his  friend  who  had 
accompanied  him,  James  Perry1  of  the  Morning 
Chronicle,  whose  verdict  on  the  occasion  he  likewise 
records  in  his  book  : — 

"In  Mr.  Coke,"  Perry  pronounced,  "  I  see  a  true 
Patriot ;  and  of  all  the  exhibitions  I  have  ever 
witnessed  this  is  the  proudest ;  compared  to  it  what 
are  the  boasted  triumphs  of  a  conqueror?  As  a 
man,  as  an  Agriculturist,  and  as  a  Patriot,  Mr. 
Coke  has  merited  the  esteem  and  gratitude  of  his 
countrymen,  for  he  has  inspired,  not  only  his  im- 
mediate neighbourhood,  but  the  kingdom  at  large 
with  a  spirit  of  emulation  and  improvement,  and  he 
has  his  reward  in  the  love  of  his  tenants,  the  affec- 
tion of  his  neighbours,  and  the  gratitude  of  all 
Mankind."2 

But  one  might  multiply  indefinitely  quotations  from 
Coke's  contemporaries  in  evidence  of  what  he  achieved 
in  the  space  of,  comparatively,  a  few  years  ;  the  Duke 
of  Sussex,  for  one,  was  never  weary  of  pointing  out  in 
his  speeches  how  Coke  "had  made  a  garden  of  a 

1  "An  excellent  and  constitutional  writer,  well  known  in  America  as 
well  as  in  Europe  "  {Holkham  and  its  Agriculture  (1818),  p.  43). 

2  Op.  cit.,  p.  43. 


300  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 


wilderness,"  and  how  he  had  "  planted  sufficient  trees 
to  put  the  entire  British  Navy  in  a  state  of  defence."1 
The  Duke  of  Bedford,2  after  travelling  abroad  for  some 
time,  paid  Coke  a  compliment  which  the  latter  said  he 
valued  more  than  any  he  had  received  :  "In  all  Europe," 
the  Duke  said,  "  I  found  nothing  like  England  ;  and  in 
all  England  nothing  like  Holkham."  In  1833,  Major 
Case  said  that  he  and  his  family  had  been  tenants  of 
Coke's  for  sixty-three  years,  and  his  grandfather  had 
died  worth  £150,000,  which  they  owed  to  Mr.  Coke. 
Lord  Lynedoch3  writing  yet  later,  in  1837,  quotes  : — 

"I  had  yesterday  an  opportunity  of  seeing  many 
of  the  farmers  on  our  little  agricultural  drive,  and 
you  can  form  no  idea  in  what  raptures  they  one  and 
all  expressed  themselves  of  Mr.  Coke — his  agri- 
cultural knowledge,  his  readiness  to  impart  what  his 
long  experience  had  taught  him  ;  and  his  general 
kindness  of  manner  were  extolled  one  more  than 
another; — pray  tell  him  this;  he  will  not  dislike  to 
hear  this,  though  coming  from  a  prejudiced  corner." 

But  perhaps  Coke's  own  modest  reference  to  what  he 
had  accomplished,  uttered  at  the  Sheep-shearing  in 
1818,  the  year  Dr.  Rigby  was  present,  is  sufficiently 
conclusive. 

"  He  could  state,"  he  said,  "from  actual  enumera- 
tion that  three  times  the  number  of  inhabitants 
were  maintained  on  the  same  space  of  ground  as 
before.  In  all  his  parish  there  was  not  a  single 
individual,  of  any  age,  that  did  not  find  full  employ- 
ment— and  they  even  wanted  hands.    He  had  per- 

1  Augustus  Frederick,  Duke  of  Sussex  (1773-1843),  sixth  son  of 
George  III.    (See  speech  at  the  Holkham  Sheep-shearing,  1821). 

2  John,  sixth  Duke  of  Bedford. 

3  Thomas  Graham,  Baron  Lynedoch,  a  celebrated  general  (1748-1843). 


-i8i8]  RESULT  OF  LABOURS  IN  ENGLAND  301 


severed  steadily  in  the  system  which  he  saw  was 
productive  of  prosperity  and  happiness ;  he  had 
fought  with  prejudice  and  had  many  times  con- 
quered it ;  he  had  accomplished  by  perseverance 
what  experience  had  recommended,  and  he  had  the 
happiness  to  say  that  his  meeting  annually  increased 
and  improvements  annually  extended."1 

Later,  we  shall  be  better  able  to  weigh  the  value  of 
such  a  statement  of  prosperity  at  the  particular  date 
when  it  was  uttered — a  date  of  unparalleled  distress 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  England;  but  for 
the  present,  a  simple  comparison  of  facts  is  more 
convincing : — 


1776. 

Rental  derived  from  the 
Holkham  estate,  £2200. 


No  wheat  grown  from 
Holkham  to  Lynn,  and 
farmersconvincedthat  none 
would  grow.  Upwards  of 
10,000  qrs.  of  wheat  im- 
ported annually  to  Wells, 
quantities  averaging  that 
amount  to  other  partsalong 
the  coast,  Blankney,  Burn- 
ham  and  Brancaster,  etc. 

Holkham  an  open  heath, 
bleak  and  barren. 


1818,  and  onwards. 

Money  derived  from  an- 
nual  fall   of  timber  and 
underwood  alone,  £2700. 
Rent  Roll  (with  moderate 
rents)  over  £20,000. 

Norfolk,  one  of  the  rich- 
est wheat-growing  coun- 
ties in  England  ;  called  the 
"  Granary  of  England," 
exporting  wheat  abroad  in 
larger  quantities  than  any 
other  district.  11,000  qrs. 
per  annum  exported  from 
the  port  of  Wells  alone. 

Holkham  a  site  of  splen- 
did timber,  rich  pasture- 
lands  and  luxuriant  crops. 
Wheat  growing  on  soil 
which  two  years  previously 
had  been  covered  by  daily 
tides. 


Farmers  Journal,  July  20th,  1818. 


302  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 


1776. 

Population  of  Holkham 
under  200,  a  poor-house, 
built  for  it  and  the  neigh- 
bouring parishes,  support- 
ed out  of  the  rates,  always 
fully  occupied. 

A  few  farmers  assembled 
to  discuss  agricultural  sub- 
jects. 


1818,  and  onwards. 

Population  1100.  Not 
one  pauper  upon  the  es- 
tate. The  poor  -  house 
razed  to  the  ground. 


An  annual  international 
gathering  held  at  Holkham 
to  discuss  agricultural  sub- 
jects, which  was  attended 
by  most  of  the  noted  men 
in  England  and  by  agri- 
culturists, scientists,  etc. 
from  every  part  of  Europe 
and  America.  In  1817, 
2000  persons  were  present 
at  the  dinners  given  on 
this  occasion.  In  182 1, 
7000  were  present. 

Arthur  Young  wrote  in 
1818:  "  Mr.  Coke  resides  in 
the  midst  of  the  best  hus- 
bandry in  Norfolk";  while, 
fourteen  years  before  this 
date,in  1804, already  Coke's 
farmers,  in  token  of  their 
appreciation  of  his  efforts  in 
the  cause  of  Agriculture, 
had  voluntarily  presented 
him  with  a  piece  of  plate 
three  feet  high  which  had 
cost  them  700  guineas. 

And  the  above — that  Coke  had  transformed  the  atti- 
tude of  his  farmers  and  the  condition  of  his  estate,  that 
the  population  of  Holkham  was  enriched  and  multi- 
plied, that  agriculture  was  permanently  improved,  that 
England,  Europe  and  another  hemisphere  were  bene- 


Apathy  and  stupidity 
characterised  the  Norfolk 
farmers,  agricultural  ex- 
periments met  with  ingrati- 
tude, calumny  and  oppo- 
sition. 


-i8i8J  RESULT  OF  LABOURS  IN  ENGLAND  303 

fited— all  was  primarily  due  to  the  decision  of  a  youth 
of  twenty-two,  to  his  subsequent  energy  and  persever- 
ance, combined  with  a  liberality  which  did  not  pause  to 
count  costs,  nor  mete  out  gifts  by  the  gratitude  these 
evoked. 

Still  more,  by  Coke's  untiring  energy  and  the  great 
interest  he  took  in  farming,  he  turned  the  attention  of 
others  in  the  same  direction.  A  stimulus  of  the  utmost 
importance  was  given  to  agriculture  throughout 
England.  It  was  due  to  him  that  persons  of  intellect, 
education  and  capital  became  interested  in  the  pursuit, 
and  began  to  view  it  no  longer  as  a  mere  occupation 
for  the  lower  classes,  but  as  a  science  of  the  first  import- 
ance. "  Improvements,"  Coke  himself  wrote  in  1809, 
"  are  everywhere  taking  place  in  agriculture.  .  .  .  Men 
of  the  most  enlightened  minds,  the  most  virtuous 
characters  and  the  most  elevated  stations  in  society,  do 
not  now  disdain  to  attend  to  those  pursuits,  to  promote 
them  by  their  labours,  and  to  extend  them  by  their 
influence.  ...  A  spirit  of  inquiry  has  gone  forth  that 
cannot  ultimately  fail  to  enlarge  the  boundaries  of  use- 
ful knowledge."  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  Coke 
was  the  precursor  of  the  efforts  of  his  great  friend 
Francis,  Duke  of  Bedford,  his  old  schoolfellow,  Lord 
Egremont,  Sir  John  Sinclair1  and  others,  whose  labours 
also  influenced  their  generation.  He  was,  besides,  one 
of  the  first  persistently  to  uphold  agricultural  interests 
in  the  Commons,  although  he  complained  bitterly  that 
i  i  never  had  he  known  a  Minister  willing  to  promote 
agricultural  improvements ,"  and  instanced  Burke,  who 

1  Sir  John  Sinclair,  Bart.,  of  Dunbeath,  Co.  Caithness,  author  of 
The  Code  of  Agriculture  and  other  agricultural  works. 


304  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 
had  decried  all  agricultural  experiments  as  "  perilous."  1 
Yet,  principally  through  Coke's  agency,  vast  tracts  of 
uncultivated  land  at  length  became  cultivated ;  be- 
tween 1804  and  1821  no  less  than  153  enclosures  took 
place  in  Norfolk  alone  ;  while  between  the  years  1790 
and  1810  he  was  directly  instrumental  in  bringing 
into  tillage  not  less  than  two  millions  of  acres  of  waste 
land.2 

Yet  another  result  was  attributed  to  him,  and  which, 
commented  on  by  his  contemporaries,  was  considered 
by  them  to  deserve  special  record  on  the  page  of  history. 
Before  Coke  had  thus  transformed  the  aspect  of  agri- 
culture throughout  the  country,  England,  unable  to 
feed  her  people,  was  dependent  for  sustenance  on  foreign 
supplies.  Had  this  state  of  affairs  continued,  it  was 
averred,  she  would,  at  a  crisis  in  her  history,  have  been 
at  the  mercy  of  Bonaparte's  decrees.  Coke,  by  the 
timely  impetus  which  he  gave  to  agriculture,  raised  the 
whole  standard  of  cultivation  throughout  the  kingdom, 
so  that,  before  Bonaparte  became  all-powerful,  England 
became  self-supporting.  But  for  this  fact,  it  was  confi- 
dently asserted  by  those  who  lived  at  that  date,  but  for 
the  energy  and  determination  of  the  man  who  was  the 
first  to  give  and  the  most  indefatigable  in  sustaining  that 
impetus,  England's  very  existence  as  an  independent 
Power  would  have  been  at  stake.  "  Let  those  who  have 
so  wantonly  decried  Mr.  Coke's  exertions  to  draw  large 
capitals,  together  with  men  of  enterprise  and  skill, 
towards  agricultural  pursuits,  steadily  contemplate  this 

1  Parliamentary  Debates,  1811,  Vol.  XIX,  p.  688. 

2  Sketch  of  Thomas  Coke,  Earl  of  Leicester,  printed  by  Whiting, 
Beaufort  House,  Strand,  p.  43  ;  also  Norwich  Mercury,  July  9th,  1842. 


-i8i8]  RESULT  OF  LABOURS  IN  ENGLAND  305 


fact  and  yield  him  the  praise  he  so  eminently  deserves 
from  his  countrymen."1 

One  of  Coke's  contemporaries  said  that  he  had  saved 
his  country  with  a  ploughshare  where  a  sword  would  have 
failed.2  One  may  add  that,  whereas  national  poverty 
and  individual  misery  follow  the  use  of  the  sword, 
national  riches  and  individual  happiness  followed  the 
wake  of  the  plough  under  the  guidance  of  Coke  of 
Norfolk. 

"Year  after  year,"  remarked  the  Duke  of  Sussex 
at  the  last  of  the  Clippings,  "  what  must  be  his  pride 
and  satisfaction  in  seeing  so  many  enjoy  the  benefits 
whom  his  great  mind  and  Christian  conduct  have 
made  happy.  This  is  to  deserve  that  great  reward 
which  is  promised  to  the  faithful  steward  upon  earth, 
where  it  is  said,  1  Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful 
servant.' — Blessed  is  the  man  who  can  do  such  work, 
and  blessed  are  the  people  who  receive  his  bounties. 
So  long  as  this  mansion  shall  last,  as  long  as  these 
blooming  fields  retain  their  verdure,  so  long  shall  his 
fame  continue  ;  nay,  till  Time  shall  be  no  more."3 

1  Sketch,  Thomas  Coke,  Earl  of  Leicester,  printed  by  Whiting-,  Beaufort 
Street,  Strand,  p.  48.  Many  of  the  speeches  of  the  day  contain  reference 
to  this  fact  (see  Norwich  Mercury,  May  6th,  1840),  and  most  of  the 
obituary  notices  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester  in  the  daily  papers,  Norwich 
Mercury,  July  9th,  1842  ;  Derby  and  Chesterfield  Reporter,  July  7th,  1842, 
etc.  etc. 

2  Speech  at  the  Earl  of  Leicester's  birthday  dinner  {Norwich  Mercury, 
May,  1832). 

3  Speech  of  the  Duke  of  Sussex  at  the  Holkham  Sheep-shearing",  1821 
(see  A  Report  of  the  Transactions  at  the  Holkham  Sheep-shearing,  1821, 
by  R.  M.  Bacon,  p.  101). 


I.— X 


[1776- 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  RESULT  OF  THE  LABOURS  IN  AMERICA 

HAVING  viewed  the  effect  of  Coke's  labours 
upon  the  minds  and  fortunes  of  his  own 
countrymen,  it   is  interesting  to  glance 
briefly  at  the  result  produced  thereby  upon 
the  minds  of  men  in  another  hemisphere. 

Owing  to  the  prominent  part  which  he  was  known  to 
have  taken  with  regard  to  the  question  of  American 
independence,  Coke's  name  had  been  held  in  respect 
in  America  ;  but  the  novelty  of  his  position  as  a  prac- 
tical and  scientific  farmer  soon  excited  considerable 
curiosity  there,  and  added  fresh  glamour  to  the  original 
sentiment  entertained  towards  him.  Men  who  had 
before  revered  him  as  a  politician  began  to  inquire  into 
and  to  desire  to  emulate  his  methods  as  a  farmer  ;  the 
advice  which  they  sought,  they  found  him  ready  and 
anxious  to  impart ;  and  the  impetus  which  agriculture 
had  received  in  England  soon  communicated  itself  to 
the  New  World,  so  that,  in  this  peaceful  pursuit,  a 
fresh  rapprochement  began  to  take  place  between  the 
hitherto  antagonistic  sister  countries. 

The  result  of  this  sentiment  upon  Coke,  as  a  private 
individual,  was  certainly  curious.  Both  causes — 
political  and  agricultural — operated  to  keep  up  a  con- 
stant and  increasing  flow  of  communication  between 
Holkham  and  the  United  States.    This,  it  must  be 

306 


-i8i8]  RESULT  OF  LABOURS  IN  AMERICA  307 

emphasised,  was  extremely  remarkable  at  a  date  when 
Americans  were  still  looked  at  askance  as  the  recent 
foes  of  England  and  were  received  with  scanty  cordiality 
in  this  country.  Coke  was  the  first  Englishman  to 
open  his  doors  to  the  first  Minister  sent  by  the  United 
States  at  the  conclusion  of  hostilities  ;  and  this  fact  was 
always  gratefully  remembered  in  the  other  hemisphere. 
From  the  date  of  American  independence,  few  Ameri- 
cans came  over  to  England  without  proposing  a  visit  to 
Coke ;  these,  in  turn,  sent  letters  of  introduction  to 
their  friends,  who  unhesitatingly  claimed  his  hospi- 
tality, many  of  them  being  men  who  journeyed  over  to 
Europe  for  the  express  purpose  of  seeing  the  English- 
man who  in  their  eyes  occupied  a  unique  position  ;  and, 
still  preserved  at  Holkham,  are  a  number  of  letters 
from  Americans  who  in  their  day  were  men  of  mark — 
letters  which  reiterate  the  same  story — thanks  for  and 
surprise  at  the  hospitality  which  had  been  shown  to  the 
writers  and  their  friends — gratitude  for  favours  received 
and  anticipation  of  favours  to  come. 

It  is  impossible  to  do  more  than  glance  very  cursorily 
at  a  few  names  of  those  who  were  thus  strangely 
brought  into  contact  with  the  far  distant  life  at  Holk- 
ham during  the  period  dating  from  the  Emancipation 
until  Coke's  death  ;  but  one  thing  must  be  borne  in 
mind  with  regard  to  this  correspondence — that  the 
majority  of  the  writers,  in  the  first  instance,  were 
strangers  to  Coke,  who  knew  his  name  and  his  hos- 
pitality only  by  repute,  but  who  none  the  less  desired 
to  pay  some  tribute  to  the  former,  and  unhesitatingly 
laid  claim  to  the  latter. 

One  of  the  most  noted  men  in  American  history  is 


308  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  0776- 


Andrew  Jackson,  born  in  1 767.  '  i  No  figure  in  American 
history,"  we  are  told,  "with  the  possible  exception  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  stands  out  with  more  marks  of 
originality  than  that  of  Andrew  Jackson."1  Jackson 
never  visited  Holkham,  and  never  saw  Coke ;  yet  he 
knew  him  so  well  by  repute,  that,  when  President,  he 
wrote  to  Coke  as  to  an  old  friend.  His  first  letter,  written 
from  Washington,  was  to  beg  hospitality  for  an  agri- 
culturist, Mr.  Bradford,  who  wished  to  visit  Holkham, 
and  Jackson  expresses  a  faint  apology  for  his  request : — 

"Without  the  honour  of  a  personal  acquaintance, 
or  of  previous  correspondence,"  he  writes,  "I  have 
taken  the  liberty  of  introducing  a  highly  esteemed 
countryman  to  your  favourable  notice.  If  contribu- 
tions like  this  are  frequently  levied  upon  your  kindness 
and  hospitality,  you  must  attribute  them  to  the  true 
cause — to  the  high  regard  which  in  this  country  is 
entertained  for  your  Character,  Sentiments,  and  pur- 
suits. Your  name  has  reached  us  under  those  cir- 
cumstances which  have  rendered  it  dear  to  your  own 
countrymen  and  revered  in  other  countries." 

He  proceeds  to  explain  Mr.  Bradford's  love  of  farm- 
ing, and  concludes  his  letter  a  little  enviously. 

"Having  during  life  devoted  much  of  my  atten- 
tion to  this  pursuit,  and  being  most  anxious  to 
exchange  for  it  the  cares  of  office,  I  enter  into  the 
feelings  of  Mr.  Bradford  ;  and  believing  he  could 
nowhere  find  a  more  perfect  model  than  at  Holkham, 
I  beg  to  recommend  him  to  your  own  kind  attention." 

1  History  of  the  United  States,  by  Charles  Litten,  p.  253.  Before 
Andrew  Jackson  was  thirty-two,  he  had  been  country  storekeeper, 
lawyer,  district  attorney,  judge,  Congressman  and  Senator.  He  was 
also  a  celebrated  General ;  he  was  Governor  of  Florida  in  1821  ;  he  was 
President  of  the  United  States  for  two  terms,  1829-36.  "The  reign  of 
Jackson,"  as  this  latter  period  is  sometimes  called,  marks  an  epoch  not 
only  in  the  political  history  of  the  country,  but  also  in  material,  intel- 
lectual and  social  progress. 


-i8i8]  RESULT  OF  LABOURS  IN  AMERICA  309 

Rufus  King,  the  second  Minister  sent  to  England 
by  the  United  States  after  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution, also  wrote  as  a  stranger  to  Coke,  to  make  the 
same  request  for  a  compatriot.  Afterwards,  during  his 
sojourn  in  England,  he  became  intimate  at  Holkham. 
His  son  was  the  late  Charles  King,  President  of 
Columbia  College  in  New  York  from  1849  to  ^64  ; 
and  his  granddaughter,  curiously  enough,  became 
Madame  Waddington,  wife  of  the  French  Minister  in 
London  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Victoria,  whose  amusing 
account  of  her  experiences  while  in  England  appeared 
in  her  published  correspondence. 

Another  correspondent  of  Coke's  who  eventually 
became  a  visitor  at  Holkham — as  indeed  each  member 
of  his  family  appears  to  have  done — was  Richard 
Caton.  Born  in  England,  he  became  a  merchant  in 
Baltimore,  and  himself  a  tall,  handsome  man,  of  fine 
presence  and  dignified  carriage,  he  married  a  celebrated 
American  beauty,  Miss  Carroll,1  who  was  greatly 
admired  by  Washington.  Caton's  first  letter  to  Coke, 
apparently  before  the  latter  was  personally  known 
to  him,  is  a  request  that  hospitality  may  be  shown 
to  a  whole  party  of  his  friends  who  were  visiting 
Europe  ;  and  he  excuses  the  boldness  of  this  demand 
in  much  the  same  terms  as  those  used  by  Jackson 
and  Rufus  King:  "I  must  tell  you,"  he  explains, 
"that  your  name  imposes  upon  me  a  task  which, 
to  any  other  person  than  yourself,  I  would  avoid. 
Our  American  travellers  all  keep  in  view  a  hope  of 
seeing  you  and  Holkham  :  and  you  must  therefore 
endure  all  the  pains  and  penalties  which  you  un- 

1  Her  father  was  the  noted  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton. 


310  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

avoidably  incur  by  your  general  hospitality  and  mag- 
nificence." 

Of  the  daughters  of  Richard  Caton,  all  celebrated 
for  their  beauty  and  fascination,  Mary,  the  most  noted 
beauty,  was  the  first  to  visit  Holkham.  When  she  came 
to  London  with  her  first  husband,  Mr.  Patterson,1  and 
her  two  unmarried  sisters,  the  three  fair  Americans 
created  quite  a  sensation,  and  were  universally  admired 
from  the  King  downwards.  A  letter  of  introduction  to 
Coke  ensured  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Patterson  a  welcome 
from  him,  and  they  appear  to  have  been  entertained 
by  him  right  royally,  for  her  father  wrote  afterwards 
with  effusive  gratitude  to  discover  if  he  could  do  any- 
thing to  repay  the  obligation  he  was  under  to  her 
unknown  host. 

"  Although  I  have  not  had  the  honour  of  being 
personally  known  to  you,  your  mind  and  character 
have  been  sufficiently  manifested  to  me  by  my 
daughter  and  Mr.  Patterson,  to  remove  any  hesitation 
I  might  feel  in  writing  to  you.  A  sense  of  your  kind- 
ness and  attention  to  my  family  would  furnish  me 
with  a  motive  for  so  doing,  did  none  other  offer ;  and 
when  I  tell  you  how  much  I  partake  of  their  senti- 
ments and  regard  for  your  unlimited  hospitality  and 
goodness,  I  shall  repeat  only  what  they  have  a  hun- 
dred times  expressed  to  you.  Strangers  as  they  were, 
such  kindness  was  the  more  grateful,  as  it  was  neither 
expected  nor  due ;  and  if  I  may  speak  for  them,  I 
should  say  that  you  have  implanted  in  them  a  senti- 
ment and  feeling  of  respect  and  affection  towards 
you,  which  can  never  be  forgotten,  and  will  be  re- 
membered often  and  often  with  an  ardent  and  a 
grateful  recollection. " 


1  Mr.  Patterson's  beautiful  sister,  Elizabeth,  was  the  first  wife  of 
Jerome  Bonaparte,  King-  of  Westphalia  and  Marshal  of  France. 


-i8i8]  RESULT  OF  LABOURS  IN  AMERICA  3^ 

He  proceeds  to  beg  that  he  may  make  some  return, 
if  possible,  for  this  hospitality  : — 

"  Can  I  in  any  shape,  is  there  any  means  by  which 
I  can  be  the  instrument  to  convey  to  you  a  small 
evidence  of  their  regard,  and  my  gratitude?  In 
politics  I  can,  if  they  be  acceptable,  offer  you  the 
fugitive  pieces  of  the  day.  Would  our  American 
publications  be  desirable?  I  fear  our  literary  reputa- 
tion in  Europe  is  less  estimated  than  it  deserves  to 
be.  If  in  Geology  or  Natural  History  you  indulge 
a  taste,  I  can  meet  you  on  more  equal  terms  and 
perhaps  afford  you  some  rude  specimens  that  would 
improve  your  Cabinet.1  In  the  way  of  Agriculture  I 
can  offer  little,  for  we  have  little  that  would  be  accept- 
able. ...  I  shall  be  happy  to  forward  to  you  any- 
thing which  our  country  affords,  and  something  we 
may  have  which  may  be  found  useful  to  you,  could 
we  but  know  what  it  is." 

He  concludes  his  letter  with  a  prophetic  utterance 
respecting  the  future  of  his  country  : — 

"Our  country  is  indeed  a  wondrous  spectacle  of 
human  association,  possessing  means  and  variety 
without  limit.  It  may  be  said,  in  truth,  that  we  have 
emerged  from  first  principles,  and  are  fast  developing 
into  a  Nation  of  numbers,  plenty,  power,  energy,  and 
policy  with  a  rapidity  that  the  world  never  witnessed, 
and  that  will  one  day  make  us  feared  and  hated  by 
all  nations  ;  for  I  do  not  think  that  forbearance  is  a 
characteristic  that  will  mark  our  conduct.  I  write 
now  as  one  looking  into  futurity  and  designating  a 
period  when  the  greater  part  of  the  present  generation 
will  be  at  rest ;  and  I  should  not  venture  to  utter  the 
sentiment,  did  I  not  feel  that  it  would  be  received  as  it 
is  given,  with  a  liberality  detached  from  local  feeling." 

Mr.  Patterson,  Mr.  Caton's  son-in-law,  was  deeply 
interested  in  agriculture,  and  was  a  clever  and  agree- 

1  Caton  was  a  well-known  geologist. 


312  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

able  man ;  but  he  occasioned  some  amusement  at  Holk- 
ham  by  the  extreme  frankness  of  his  remarks.  It  was 
the  custom  after  dinner  for  every  one  to  repair  to  the 
chapel  for  family  prayers.  On  the  first  evening  of  his 
sojourn  at  Holkham,  when  Mr.  Patterson  was  invited  to 
attend,  he  replied  with  gravity,  "  I  thank  you — I  thank 
you  ;  but  I  pray,  devoutly  and  sincerely,  once  a  week  ! " 
In  those  days,  however,  while  the  servants  occupied  the 
chapel  for  worship,  and  their  superiors  were  present 
in  a  private  room  overlooking  the  sacred  edifice  like 
a  gallery,  it  was  yet  considered  necessary  for  cer- 
tain footmen  of  the  establishment  to  be  in  attendance 
in  that  upper  apartment  during  evening  prayers  in 
order  to  assist  to  their  feet  those  gentlemen  who  were 
too  drunk  to  rise  from  their  knees.  Mr.  Patterson, 
therefore,  may  have  concluded  that  to  worship  with  a 
clear  head  on  Sunday  morning  was  more  edifying. 

During  her  visit  to  England  the  beautiful  Mary 
Patterson  was  as  greatly  admired  by  the  "  Iron  Duke  " 
as  her  mother  had  been  by  Washington.  Later,  her 
husband  died,  and  constant  mention  is  made  of  her  as  a 
young  and  lovely  widow  by  Coke's  correspondents, 
which  prove  that  she  made  painful  havoc  among  the 
susceptible  hearts  in  the  other  hemisphere.  On  return- 
ing to  England,  she  married  in  1825  the  brother  of  her 
early  admirer  the  "  Iron  Duke,"1  and  as  Lady  Welles- 
ley  her  portrait  was  painted  by  Lawrence  and  is  now 
in  Baltimore.  Of  her  sisters,  one  became  Lady  Staf- 
ford,  and  another  Duchess  of  Leeds — "a  singular 

1  Richard,  second  Earl  of  Mornington  (1760- 1842),  created  Baron 
Wellesley  of  Wellesley  in  the  Peerage  of  Great  Britain  1797,  and 
Marquis  Wellesley  in  the  Peerage  of  Ireland  1799. 


-i8i8]  RESULT  OF  LABOURS  IN  AMERICA  313 

instance,"  remarks  a  contemporary,  uof  three  sisters, 
foreigners,  and  of  a  nation  hitherto  little  known  in  our 
aristocratical  circles,  allying  themselves  to  such  dis- 
tinguished families  in  England."1  But,  however  bril- 
liant their  subsequent  fortunes,  the  three  sisters  appear 
never  to  have  forgotten  the  man  who  was  one  of  their 
first  friends  on  arriving  as  "  foreigners  "  in  a  strange 
land  ;  and  at  last  their  father,  following  the  example  of 
his  daughters,  visited  the  English  home  of  which  he 
had  heard  so  much.  "I  take  so  much  interest  in  every- 
thing that  relates  to  you  and  yours,  more  especially 
since  my  residence  at  Holkham,"  he  wrote  to  Coke 
towards  the  end  of  his  life,  ' '  that  I  can  never  lose  the 
grateful  recollections,  nor  think  of  them  but  with  plea- 
sure and  gratitude." 

As  Coke's  influence  upon  agriculture  spread  far  and 
wide  through  that  distant  world,  pamphlets  respecting 
his  system  of  farming,  some  of  them  written  by  his  own 
tenants,2  penetrated  and  were  read  with  interest  in 
remote  parts  of  America.  One  of  his  correspondents 
mentions  that  "  accounts  of  the  Holkham  Sheep-shear- 
ing are  extensively  circulated  by  the  public  journals  in 
the  United  States  : — 

* 1  After  my  return  from  England  last  autumn," 
writes  John  Farish,  of  the  Montreal  Agricultural 
Society,  "  I  astonished  them  all  with  the  detail  of  the 
wonderful  experiments  and  agricultural  operations  of 
which  I  was  an  eye-witness  at  your  last  sheep-shear- 
ing. I  also  distributed  among  them  a  few  copies  of 
Dr.   Rigby's  pamphlet,  which  was  perused  with 

1  Journal  of  T.  Raikes  (i%$6),  Vol.  II,  p.  384. 

2  Blakie  in  a  letter  mentions  this  fact,  and  also  that  he  personally  had 
been  asked  and  had  consented  to  write  a  pamphlet  containing-  a  descrip- 
tion of  Coke's  system  of  agriculture  for  America. 


314  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [W&- 


avidity  and  delight.  ...  I  know  full  well  how  much 
satisfaction  you  derive  from  an  extension  of  that  theo- 
retical and  practical  knowledge  which  centres  at 
Holkham,  and  which,  like  the  genial  and  beneficial 
warmth  of  the  sun,  diffuses  its  radiation  for  the  profit 
and  advantage  of  both  hemispheres." 

The  Montreal  Agricultural  Society  soon  after  elected 
Coke  as  an  honorary  member  ;  and  some  years  later 
James  Lowell,  father  of  the  ambassador,  wrote  to  beg 
the  same  honour  for  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural 
Society — "  impressed,"  he  says,  "with  a  just  sense  of 
the  services  you  have  rendered  to  Agriculture  both  by 
your  example  and  opinions,  and  not  insensible  of  the 
early,  steady,  firm  and  inflexible  regard  you  have 
shown  to  this  country  in  the  darkest  times." 

Thus,  when  American  agriculturists  began  to  make 
pilgrimages  to  Holkham  more  frequently  even  than 
did  American  patriots,  Andrew  Oliver,  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  Massachusetts,  appears  to  have  journeyed 
thither  in  the  former  capacity.  "  Mr.  Oliver,"  writes  a 
common  acquaintance,  General  D'Evere,  "often  ex- 
claims that  his  visit  to  you  alone  was  worth  his  voyage 
across  the  Atlantic.  .  .  .  Mr.  Oliver  has  enlarged  and 
improved  his  system  of  farming  since  his  return,  no 
doubt  to  imitate  your  great  example,  so  that  he  is  now 
considered  the  Coke  of  Maryland" 

General  D'Evere  himself,  who  had  been  induced  to 
perform  the  journey  to  Europe  partly  with  a  view  to 
making  Coke's  acquaintance,  had  then  brought  with  him 
a  simple  introduction  to  his  host,  which  stated  him  to 
be  "the  gallant  and  distinguished  defender  of  South 
American  Independence,  who  has  a  heart  as  warm  and 


-i8i8]  RESULT  OF  LABOURS  IN  AMERICA  315 

generous  as  your  own."  He  appears  to  have  been  an 
intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Caton  and  of  Mr.  Oliver,  for 
later  he  writes  : — 

"  I  have  been  to  the  United  States  on  a  visit  to  our 
friends  Mr.  Caton  and  Mr.  Oliver,  when  you  and 
Holkham  formed  the  pleasing  subject  of  our  con- 
versation. Mr.  Oliver  often  exclaims  respecting  his 
visit  to  you  ;  and  His  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of 
Sussex  made  so  favourable  an  impression  upon  him 
as  a  Prince  of  the  Blood,  that  he  no  longer  feels  any 
Republican  hostility  to  Princes  !  " 

General  D'Evere  did  not  hesitate,  in  his  turn,  to 
send  a  friend  of  his  own  to  Holkham,  pleading  as  his 
excuse  to  Coke  "that  hospitality  to  our  countrymen  for 
which  you  have  gained  so  deserved  a  reputation." 

What  seemed  to  impress  Coke's  American  visitors 
most  was  the — to  them — extraordinary  contrast  between 
the  splendour  of  his  surroundings  and  the  simplicity  of 
his  individual  tastes.  A  man  who  in  his  daily  life  was 
at  once  both  prince  and  farmer;  a  patriot  and  the  friend 
of  kings  ;  luxurious,  yet  hardy  ;  proudly  independent, 
yet  absolutely  unassuming  in  his  attitude  towards  all 
men — was  a  distinct  anomaly  in  their  experience  ;  and 
they  found  a  never-failing  romance  in  the  feudal  life  of 
such  a  man,  living  in  the  midst  of  a  free  tenantry,  who 
voluntarily  accepted  his  will  as  law.  To  this  day, 
Americans  cherish  that  same  element  of  romance  with 
regard  to  institutions  which,  to  an  Englishman,  have 
all  the  prosaic  character  of  familiarity  ;  and  at  that  date 
this  sentiment  was  perhaps  even  stronger  with  regard 
to  the  world  that  they  had  renounced,  and  the  existence 
they  had  discarded.  The  interest  attached  to  their 
correspondence  lies  solely  in  its  curious  revelation  of 


316  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

the  estimation  in  which  they  regarded  Coke  ;  while 
to-day,  still  preserved  in  the  New  York  Public  Library, 
are  two  apparently  unimportant  letters  from  him,  evi- 
dently once  deposited  there  as  treasures.1 

But  amongst  the  miscellaneous  correspondence 
addressed  to  him  by  writers  whose  identity  it  is  now 
impossible  to  trace,  there  are  others  of  a  different 
character  ;  letters  from  unknown  correspondents  peti- 
tioning for  advice  in  matters  of  perplexity,  for  en- 
couragement in  times  of  failure  ;  letters  expressing 
thankfulness  for  the  sympathy  the  writers  had  experi- 
enced and  the  generosity  they  had  met  with — for  the 
practical  help  and  valuable  gifts  which  they  had  re- 
ceived. There  are  letters  which  refer  to  distressed 
families  whom  Coke  had  aided,  and  to  struggling  farm- 
ers to  whom  he  had  given  the  benefit  of  his  experi- 
ence, or  to  whom  he  had  sent  out  presents  of  machines 
or  cattle  as  an  encouragement  to  perseverance, — men, 
not  one  of  whom  can  have  been  known  to  him  across 
the  intervening  miles  of  sea  and  land.  Even  the  guests 
who  had  received  his  hospitality  appear  afterwards  to 
have  appealed  for  his  aid  for  their  impecunious  friends  : 
"  Mr.  Oliver  and  I  often  talk  of  you,"  again  explains 

1  The  first,  addressed  to  "  Lichfield,"  but  the  date  of  which  is  lost, 
shows  that,  like  the  Lord  Chief  Justice,  Coke  "  never  gave  up  his  Body 
to  Physic "  ;  he  speaks  with  horror  of  medicine,  and  warns  his  corre- 
spondent, who  has  been  ill,  to  avoid  taking-  it,  of  which  avoidance  Coke 
explains  that  he,  personally,  had  proved  the  benefit.  The  other  letter, 
without  date  or  legible  address,  shows  that  he  was,  nevertheless,  ready 
to  welcome  the  progress  of  medical  science,  for  it  states  that  it  was  his 
"  ardent  wish  to  diffuse  the  benefit  of  vaccination  as  generally  as 
possible.  I  shall  certainly,"  he  adds,  "support  any  Petition  that  may 
be  laid  before  Parliament  for  that  purpose.  I  beg  that  you  will  express 
my  sentiments  to  the  Managers  of  this  beneficial  institution,  and  assure 
them  that  I  will  do  all  in  my  power  to  promote  their  views." 


-i8i8]  RESULT  OF  LABOURS  IN  AMERICA  317 

Mr.  Caton  in  one  letter;  ' 1  he  has,  I  believe,  written  to 
you  some  time  back,  relating  to  a  person  who  was 
known  to  you,  and  who  has  left  a  family  in  much 
distress.  (The  person  is  dead,  I  understand,  under 
circumstances  much  to  be  lamented. )"  One  thing  this 
variety  of  correspondence  serves  to  prove  is,  that  none 
who  sought  the  sympathy  and  the  aid  of  Coke  did  so 
in  vain. 

But  there  were  times  when  his  role  of  benefactor  was 
reversed,  and,  as  in  the  case  of  Richard  Caton,  his 
correspondents  were  not  contented  to  be  passive 
recipients  of  benefits.  Presents  found  their  way  back 
to  him,  though  occasionally  of  a  quaint  character — 
offerings  of  rare  seeds  for  plants  and  grasses  ;  portraits 
of  the  writers ;  once,  a  parcel  of  beautifully  woven 
shawls  ;  once,  a  chest  of  sweet-smelling  cedar-wood, 
procured  specially  from  Canton  ;  once,  entrusted  to  the 
care  of  Richard  Rush1  by  a  "  gentleman  of  New  York," 
a  couple  of  cases  of  1 '  American  pure  beef,"  intended 
by  the  giver,  as  Rush  explains,  to  represent  to  Coke  "  a 
tribute  of  the  high  respect  in  which  he  holds  your 
publick  character  and  your  services  in  the  cause  of  Agri- 
culture."— Unfortunately,  the  weather  being  warm,  this 
"  tribute"  arrived  in  a  condition  which  necessitated  its 
hasty  consignment  by  Rush  to  the  depths  of  the  ocean  ! 
Another  curious  gift  was  a  portion  of  a  fleece  of  the 
brightest  golden  colour,  said  to  be  the  only  fleece 
of  this  hue  which  had  ever  been  beheld  by  European 
eyes.  Supposed  to  come  originally  from  Thibet,  it  was 
found  in  a  captured  ship  which  had  been  carrying  a 
rich  cargo  from  Tartary  to  the  Emperor  of  China  ;  but, 

1  American  Minister  at  the  Court  of  St.  James'. 


318  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1776- 

valuable  as  was  the  cargo,  this  fleece  was  estimated  to 
be  the  most  priceless  thing  on  board. 

Sometimes  the  offerings  took  the  form  of  prints 
relating  to  American  history.  General  D'Evere  when 
he  came  over  to  England  was  the  bearer  of  one  of  these 
tokens  from  a  sometime  guest  at  Holkham. 

"To  one  of  the  most  early  and  constant  friends  of 
America,"  says  the  letter  which  accompanied  it, 
"who  is  also  a  lover  and  a  munificent  patron  of  the 
fine  arts,  an  American  engraving  of  an  American 
picture,  which  commemorates  the  birth  of  the 
American  nation,  will,  I  hope,  be  acceptable.  .  .  . 
It  will  serve  as  a  testimony  of  my  grateful  recollec- 
tions of  Holkham — its  elegant  and  cordial  hospitality, 
and  the  gratification  I  received  from  the  society  and 
kindness  of  its  distinguished  owner." 

But  what  must  have  been  a  greater  tax  on  Coke's 
good-nature — more  even  than  the  effusive  gratitude  of 
his  unknown  correspondents,  or  than  the  constant 
influx  of  pilgrims  to  Holkham,  his  admirers  in  that 
other  hemisphere  sent  over  artists  expressly  to  take  his 
portrait.  "  I  am  sending  over  Mr.  West,  a  relation  of 
Sir  [sic]  Benjamin  West,"1  writes  one  persuasively, 
"who  is  said  to  have  taken  the  best  likeness  of  Lord 
Byron  ever  done  of  his  Lordship  !  " — "  The  many  proofs 
you  have  given  of  your  friendship  towards  our  country 
and  countrymen  will  ever  prove  a  lively  remembrance  of 
your  name  with  us,"  pleads  another;  "to  have  the  like- 
ness of  him  to  whom  we  are  so  much  indebted  would 
add  a  lasting  satisfaction  to  the  thousands  that  will 
behold  it ! "  And  while  the  request  which  was  con- 
tained in  these  letters  was  often  repeated  during  Coke's 

1  Benjamin  West,  President  of  the  Royal  Academy. 


-i8i8]  RESULT  OF  LABOURS  IN  AMERICA  319 
life,  the  romantic  admiration  which  prompted  it  does 
not  appear  to  have  proved  ephemeral,  as  one  might 
have  expected.  As  the  years  went  by,  Coke's  corres- 
pondents continued  to  show  a  curiosity  as  keen  in  his 
unique  personality,  an  interest  as  lively  in  his  success 
as  an  agriculturist,  a  gratitude  as  enthusiastic  for  his 
aid  during  the  struggle  for  independence.  Stevenson, 
the  American  Minister,1  gave  proof  of  this  when  he 
came  to  England  in  1836.  His  first  visit  was  to  Holk- 
ham,  and  he  claimed  for  himself  the  honour  of  having 
paid  Coke  the  highest  compliment  which  one  man  ever 
paid  another. 

"  I,"  he  said,  "the  representative  of  fourteen 
millions  of  freemen,  thought  it  my  first  duty  on  my 
arrival  in  England  to  pay  my  respects,  and  to  offer 
the  grateful  acknowledgments  of  those  fourteen 
millions  of  countrymen  to  the  man  who  so  early  had 
acted  so  noble  a  part  in  vindication  of  America."2 

1  Andrew  Stevenson,   born   1784,   died   1857  in   North  Carolina. 
Minister  at  the  Court  of  London,  1836-41. 
3  Norwich  Mercury,  July  9th,  1842. 


[1783 


CHAPTER  XV 

SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED 
1783-1789 

MM  29-35 

HAVING  now  glanced  briefly  at  Coke's  early- 
work,  both  in  the  capacity  of  politician 
and  of  agriculturist,  we  must  once  more 
resume  the  thread  of  events  in  due  order. 
In  doing  so,  however,  it  is  perhaps  essential  to  lay 
stress  on  one  fact. 

In  his  dual  capacity  of  politician  and  farmer,  the 
noted  men  who  crossed  Coke's  path  at  every  period  of 
his  life  were  many  and  varied.  Statesmen,  agricul- 
turists, artists,  literati,  great  generals  and  naval  heroes 
— English  and  foreign — one  by  one  they  appear  upon 
the  stage  ;  and  while  it  is  impossible  to  do  more  than 
refer  to  a  very  limited  number  of  those  who  were,  at 
one  time  or  another,  thus  connected  with  his  career, 
and  while  mention  of  these  can  be  made  only  in  the 
order  in  which  their  correspondence  happens  to  have 
been  preserved,  or  in  which  their  lives  became  inter- 
woven with  the  events  of  Coke's  own  life,  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  names  occurring  thus  most  often 
in  these  pages  do  not  of  necessity  represent  those 
whose  lives  actually  bore  the  closest  relation  to  Coke's 
own.    Of  his  deepest  and  most  intimate  friendships, 

320 


1783]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  321 

indeed,  in  many  instances,  no  trace  remains  beyond 
the  bare  knowledge  of  their  existence ;  and  friends 
of  whom  mention  will  be  made  here  most  constantly 
and  most  in  detail,  are  therefore,  obviously,  those  of 
whom — very  often  by  a  mere  chance — the  corres- 
pondence was  kept,  and  most  record  thus  preserved. 

It  was  in  1783,  the  year  before  his  temporary  ab- 
sence from  Parliament,  that  an  incident  occurred  to 
which,  although  apparently  trivial  at  the  time,  Coke 
used  afterwards  to  advert  with  great  interest.  About 
three  miles  from  Holkham  lies  the  village  of  Burnham 
Thorpe,  whose  rector  for  many  years  was  the  Rev. 
Edmund  Nelson.  The  parish  of  Burnham,  in  fact, 
adjoins  that  of  Holkham,  and  a  road  to  it  runs  through 
Holkham  Park.  Mr.  Nelson,  from  this  near  neigh- 
bourhood, was  well  known  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Coke, 
although  neither  his  politics  nor  his  social  status  in 
Norfolk  were  calculated  to  promote  great  intimacy. 
His  fourth  son  Horatio,  who  was  a  little  over  four 
years  younger  than  Coke,  had  gone  to  sea  as  a  boy  of 
twelve,  in  1770,  nearly  six  years  before  Coke  came  into 
possession  of  the  estate.  From  time  to  time,  however, 
young  Nelson  had  reappeared  for  short  intervals  at  his 
old  home,  and  during  these  visits  his  chief  amusement 
was  to  join  Mr.  Coke's  hounds  when  out  coursing. 
Fragile  and  delicate  in  health,  there  were  occasions 
when  he  found  even  this  healthy  exercise  more  than  his 
strength  could  stand,  and  was  forced  to  abandon  it  for 
the  less  energetic  amusement  of  bird's-nesting.  "It 
was  not  my  intention  to  have  gone  to  the  coursing 
meeting,"  he  wrote  to  his  brother  on  one  occasion  ; 
"for,  to  say  the  truth,  I  have  rarely  escaped  a  wet 
1.— Y 


322  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1783 

jacket  and  a  violent  cold.  Besides,  to  me,  even  the 
ride  to  the  Smee  is  longer  than  any  pleasure  I  find 
in  the  sport  can  compensate  for."1  Partly  owing  to 
the  fact  that  he  shunned  violent  exercise,  partly  owing 
to  his  carelessness  in  carrying  his  gun  ready-cocked,  and 
in  shooting  at  random,  it  does  not  appear  that  he  was 
ever  asked  to  join  the  Holkham  shooters,  and  he  re- 
mained a  poor  shot,  so  that  only  once  in  his  life  did  he 
succeed  in  killing  a  partridge. 

Shortly  after  the  recognised  close  of  the  American 
War,  in  June,  1783,  young  Nelson  returned  home  from 
a  two  years'  cruise  ;  and,  one  morning,  when  Coke  was 
seated  in  his  study  writing,  he  was  told  that  Captain 
Nelson  wished  to  see  him,  in  order  to  make  his  declara- 
tion for  half-pay  as  a  Commander.  Nelson,  at  that 
time,  had  just  been  presented  to  the  King,  and  was 
known  to  Coke  only  as  a  creditable  young  man  of  very 
average  ability  ;  no  premonition  crossed  Coke's  mind 
that,  in  the  spare,  fragile  youth  of  five-and-twenty, 
who,  a  moment  later,  entered  his  study,  he  was  welcom- 
ing a  man  whom  posterity  would  acclaim  as  one  of 
England's  greatest  heroes.  And  could  any  onlooker, 
knowing  that  future,  have  witnessed  this  interview,  it 
might  have  seemed  incredible  that,  of  the  two  men 
before  him,  any  word,  any  action  of  the  apparently 
unimportant  visitor  would  be  treasured  by  posterity, 
while  the  memory  of  his  host  would  be  all  but  con- 
signed to  oblivion.  For  at  that  date,  while  Coke, 
although  only  four  years  young  Nelson's  senior,  was 
already  acknowledged  by  his  generation  as  a  man  of 
mark  and  the  benefactor  of  his  species,  Nelson  was 

1  The  Life  of  Nelson,  by  A.  T.  Mahan  (1897),  Vol  I,  p.  9a 


1783]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  323 

still  unknown  to  fame  ;  and  thus  confronted,  the  two 
young  men  must  have  presented  a  curious  contrast,  in 
which  physically,  as  well  as  socially,  and,  apparently, 
mentally,  Nelson  was  at  a  disadvantage.  Undersized 
and  insignificant  in  appearance,  weak  in  health,  nerv- 
ous in  temperament  and  poor  in  circumstances,  he 
could  boast  as  yet  little  achieved  in  the  present,  and 
less  prospect  for  the  future,  save  what  lay  unguessed  in 
his  own  keen  brain  and  indomitable  pluck. 

Yet,  little  over  twenty  years  later,  the  chair  in  which 
he  then  sat  was  looked  upon  by  Coke  as  one  of  the 
most  prized  possessions  amongst  all  the  treasures  of 
Holkham,  and  a  humble  turret  bedroom  which  he  had 
occupied  as  Coke's  guest  was  adorned  with  his  portrait 
and  proudly  known  as  "  Nelson's  room." 

Nelson's  own  politics  appear  to  have  been  comprised 
in  the  dictum,  "  To  hate  all  Frenchmen  as  you  would 
hate  the  Devil,"  but  his  father,  as  an  avowed  Tory  and 
follower  of  Pitt,  on  no  occasion  ever  bestirred  himself 
to  promote  the  cause  of  his  great  Whig  neighbour 
at  Holkham.  Yet  Coke  could  boast  certain  Tory 
friends  in  Norfolk.  Henry  Styleman  of  Snettisham, 
although  a  staunch  Tory,  was  one  of  his  great  friends ; 
and  Coke  used  often  to  visit  him,  on  which  occasions 
Mr.  Styleman,  with  great  delicacy  of  feeling,  used  to 
turn  with  its  face  to  the  wall  a  picture  of  William  Pitt 
which  hung  in  his  dining-room  !  Another  Norfolk 
neighbour,  William  Windham,  the  statesman,  on  the 
contrary,  affords  an  instance,  as  we  shall  see  later, 
in  which  a  political  difference  with  Coke  seriously 
affected  an  otherwise  unwavering  friendship. 

From  his  early  days  Coke  evinced  a  strong  attach- 


324  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1783 
ment  for  Windham,  and  the  first  public  speech  of  the 
latter  in  1788 — that  bold  protest  against  the  war  with 
America,  uttered  at  a  meeting  called  together  for  the 
very  purpose  of  furthering  hostilities — had  served  to 
cement  this  attachment.  Windham,  on  his  part,  felt 
for  Coke  perhaps  as  sincere  an  affection  as  he  ever 
exhibited  for  any  one.  Lord  Holland,  indeed,  believed 
Windham  to  be  absolutely  self-absorbed,  and  points  out 
how  Windham's  Diary  reveals  "  the  total  absence  of  all 
affection ,  and,  with  the  exception  of  Dr.  Johnson,  of  all 
admiration  or  deference  for  others and  thus  destroys 
u  anything  like  interest  for  the  man"1  But  the  prosaic 
record  of  a  man's  daily  actions  is  not  always  the  best 
criterion  by  which  to  judge  his  affections ;  and  had 
Lord  Holland  seen  the  warm  and  constant  affection  of 
Windham's  letters  to  Coke,  he  would  probably  have 
modified  that  view  of  his  character,  and  have  discovered 
that  Windham  was  capable  of  sincere  friendship,  strong 
appreciation,  and  also  of  exerting  himself  on  behalf  of 
those  he  really  loved. 

Felbrigg,  the  Windham  property,  beautifully  situated 
on  the  hills  above  Cromer,  was  about  twenty-five  miles 
by  road  from  Holkham  ;  and  often,  in  response  to  a  sum- 
mons from  Coke  to  join  some  unexpected  guests  at  Holk- 
ham, or  to  share  in  the  pleasure  of  a  sudden  visit  from 
Fox,  Windham  passed  along  the  intervening  miles  on 
horseback,  meditating,  as  his  Diary  relates,2  upon  some 
abstruse  problem  which  he  had  elected  to  solve  en  route. 

1  Further  Memoirs  of  the  Whig  Party,  1 807-1 821,  by  Henry  Richard 
Vassall-Fox,  third  Baron  Holland,  edited  by  the  Earl  of  Ilchester,  1904, 
P.  57- 

2  Diary  of  Rt.  Hon.  William  Windham  (1784-1810),  ed.  by  Mrs. 
Henry  Baring,  1866. 


1784]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  325 


His  first  mention  of  a  visit  to  Holkham,  and  of  his 
impression  of  the  house,  occurs  in  August,  1784,  when 
he  states  how  he  "  left  Felbrigg,  and  went  in  the 
phaeton  from  thence  to  Holkham,"  and  how,  the  next 
morning,  they  all  rode  about  on  horseback.  "  The 
place  finer  than  I  expected,"  he  says ;  "  nothing  more 
just  in  my  opinion  than  Coke's  ideas  of  laying  it  out." 

Later  he  writes  more  fully,  in  January,  1786  : — 

i 'Set  out  for  Holkham.  Drive  not  unpleasant  ; 
feeling  of  great  satisfaction  on  my  arrival,  which  was 
not  rendered  less  by  the  circumstance  of  arriving  in 
the  midst  of  the  audit.  During  the  whole  of  my 
stay  here  I  enjoyed  myself  very  much  ;  in  this  enjoy- 
ment the  house  itself  had  no  small  share.  Of  all  the 
modes  of  existence  that  vary  from  day  to  day,  none  is 
to  me  more  pleasing  than  habitation  in  a  large  house. 
Besides  the  pleasure  it  affords  from  the  contemplation 
of  elegance  and  magnificence,  the  objects  it  presents, 
and  the  images  it  gives  birth  to,  there  is  no  other 
situation  in  which  the  enjoyment  of  company  is 
united  to  such  complete  retirement.  A  cell  in  a 
convent  is  not  a  place  of  greater  retirement  than  a 
remote  apartment  in  such  a  house  as  Holkham. 

"  Accordingly,  during  my  stay  there,  I  have  read 
more  than  I  have  done  in  the  same  number  of  days  in 
other  places  to  which  I  have  retired  to  read.  The 
easy  transition  from  company  to  study  gained  to 
employment  many  hours  which,  by  coming  in  por- 
tions too  small  to  admit  of  any  reduction,  must  in 
other  situations  have  been  thrown  aside  as  useless. 
The  pond  at  the  back  of  the  house  was  frozen  for 
two  days  so  as  to  bear,  and  the  ice  was  so  clear  and 
the  weather  so  pleasant,  that  all  the  pleasure  which 
solitary  skating  can  give,  existed  in  perfection. 

"21st.  Rode  after  breakfast,  and  on  one  of 
Hoste's1  horses  to  Rainham.2  Before  I  set  out,  went 
for  the  first  time  into  the  library  at  the  top,  which  I 

1  Mr.  Dixon  Hoste.      2  House  of  the  Marquis  of  Townshend. 


326  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1786 


had  heard  of  when  I  was  last  here,  and  forgot  again. 
The  room  and  the  collection  answered  fully  to  my 
expectation,  and  gave  a  pleasing  impression  of  the 
use  that  might  be  made  of  it  and  the  comfort  enjoyed 
by  any  literary  chaplain  belonging  the  family." 

The  "  library  at  the  top"  was  the  large  airy  turret 
room  in  which  Thomas  Coke  had  first  deposited  his 
literary  treasures.  With  big  windows  commanding  a 
fine  view  over  the  park  and  lake,  it  was  bright  and 
pleasant ;  while,  approached  only  by  a  long  silent 
corridor,  its  isolation  was  complete.  At  the  time  when 
Windham  wrote,  the  dilapidated  but  priceless  MSS. 
and  rare  tomes  collected  by  Thomas  Coke  were  stored 
there  ;  some,  with  ancient  bindings  incapable  of  hold- 
ing their  leaves  together,  were  lying  neglected  on  the 
shelves  without  any  attempt  at  order  or  classification  ; 
others,  in  great  boxes,  lay  still  unpacked,  as  they  had 
arrived  from  Italy,  or  as  Drakenborch  and  other 
scholars  had  replaced  them.  There,  too,  in  open 
wooden  bookcases  along  the  walls  were  the  well-worn 
volumes  which  had  once  formed  the  library  of  the 
Chief  Justice,  together  with  books  which  had  been 
the  property  of  Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  his  wife's  first 
husband — a  number  of  which  to  this  day  remain  in  the 
passage  outside  the  former  library. 

To  Windham,  who  eventually  owed  his  death  to  his 
appreciation  for  books,  such  a  discovery  must  have 
been  momentous.  A  library  so  far  removed  from  the 
ordinary  living-rooms  of  the  house  was,  it  may  be  pre- 
sumed, visited  only  by  the  scholarly  or  the  curious  ; 
and  his  remark  that  on  his  previous  visits  to  Holkham 
he  had  "  heard  of  it,"  and  "  forgot  it  again,"  is  signifi- 


1786]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  327 

cant,  while  an  entry  many  years  later  in  his  Diary 
records  how,  in  one  of  the  books  which  he  was  reading 
there,  he  came  across  a  paper,  undisturbed,  which  he 
had  left  in  it  two  years  previously.  Having  once  found 
his  way  there,  many  delightful  hours  were  passed  by 
him  in  a  solitude  which  he  loved  ;  and  to-day,  looking 
round  the  now  deserted  room,  one  can  still  picture  the 
brilliant,  witty  statesman  revelling  in  its  complete  isola- 
tion, or  pausing  in  his  search  amongst  the  treasures 
with  which  he  was  surrounded  to  look  out  on  the  peace- 
ful view  over  the  sunny  park. 

His  visits  to  Holkham  at  this  date  were  pretty  fre- 
quent ;  for  despite  his  professed  love  of  solitude,  he  was 
excellent  company  and  a  delightful  conversationalist,  so 
that  his  society  was  always  welcome.  Like  Coke,  he  was 
a  friend  of  Fox  and  Burke  and  mentions  being  asked  to 
meet  them  at  Holkham,  and  to  dine  with  them  and  Coke 
in  town.  Sheridan,  Burke  and  Fox  at  this  date  were 
constant  guests  at  Holkham,  but  unfortunately,  no  cor- 
respondence from  the  two  former  has  been  preserved. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  letters  from  Fox  which  sur- 
vive, although  treasured  with  an  affectionate  care,  are 
those  only  of  the  most  terse  and  practical  description. 
At  a  time  when  unimportant  writers  labelled  their 
voluminous  compositions  with  the  day  of  the  month, 
the  day  of  the  week,  and,  often,  the  very  hour  at  which 
these  were  written,  Fox,  to  his  intimate  friends,  more 
usually  dashed  off  his  brief,  matter-of-fact  notes  with 
no  date,  and  little  avoidable  palaver.  Besides  his  urgent 
appeals  for  help  in  any  political  crisis,  his  letters  to 
Coke  consist  of  equally  short  and  yet  more  eager  direc- 
tions with  regard  to  sporting  arrangements. 


328  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1786 


"  My  dear  Coke,"  he  writes  in  a  typical  letter  from 
St.  Ann's  hill,  "  I  intend  to  be  at  Swaffham  Tuesday 
night,  and  if  you  do  not  think  it  too  early  in  the  year 
for  Houghton,  and  you  go  out  Partridge-shooting 
Wednesday,  I  should  be  obliged  to  you  if  you  would 
tell  me  where  I  can  find  you,  as  my  dogs  will  prob- 
ably have  had  enough  of  it.  I  think  I  could  easily 
be  at  Creek  soon  after  ten,  or  even  Holkham  by 
eleven.  If  you  could  lend  me  a  horse,  it  would  be 
better,  but  I  can  manage  to  have  my  own  with  me. 
I  do  not  hear  that  there's  any  chance  of  the  Meeting 
of  Parliament  being  put  off.  I  received  two  brace  of 
partridges  and  one  of  pheasants  from  you. 

"  Yours  ever, 

"C.  J.  Fox." 

And  again  : — 

"  Dear  Coke,  Lord  Robert1  and  I  mean  to  be  at 
Banham  Thursday,  at  about  eleven,  where,  if  you 
will  send  a  keeper  to  meet  us,  I  shall  be  obliged  to 
you,  and  you  could  send  me  a  horse  for  myself.  It 
would  be  very  convenient  to  me,  as  I  think  of  sending 
my  own  strait  [sic]  to  Holkham  to  save  him  a  little. 
If  you  have  no  horse  fit  for  me,  I  shall  still  be  glad 
if  you  send  one,  and  I  might,  in  that  case,  ride  one 
of  Lord  Robert's  and  send  his  servant  upon  that  you 

send'  "  Yours  ever, 

44  C.  J.  Fox." 

It  was  no  easy  matter  to  provide  a  horse  equal  to 
Fox's  weight,  and  his  letters  usually  show  great  anxiety 
on  this  point.  He  was  always  ready,  however,  for  a 
jest  against  himself  on  account  of  his  great  size.  Once, 
at  Holkham,  when  they  were  teasing  him  for  having 
grown  so  fat,  Coke  happened  to  remark  that  he  won- 
dered which  weighed  most,  Fox  or  the  fat  chef  in  the 

1  Lord  Robert  Spencer,  third  son  of  the  third  Duke  of  Marlborough, 
a  great  friend  of  Fox. 


J786]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  329 

kitchen.  The  idea  was  taken  up,  wagers  were  staked 
upon  the  result,  and  the  party,  surrounding  Fox,  hustled 
him  off  to  the  kitchen,  where  they  weighed  him  and 
the  stout  cook  one  against  the  other.  But  history  is 
silent  upon  the  result. 

Coke,  in  later  years,  used  to  tell  many  amusing 
anecdotes  about  Fox.  One  night  at  Brooks's,  when 
Coke  was  present,  Fox,  in  allusion  to  something  that 
had  been  said,  made  a  very  disparaging  remark  about 
Government  powder.  Adam,1  who  heard  it,  con- 
sidered it  a  personal  reflection,  and  sent  Fox  a 
challenge.  At  the  time  appointed  Fox  went  out  and 
took  his  station,  standing  full  face  to  his  adversary. 
Fitzgerald  pointed  out  to  him  that  he  ought  to  stand 
sideways.  "  What  does  it  matter?  "  protested  Fox  ;  "I 
am  as  thick  one  way  as  the  other  ! "  The  signal  to 
'  Fire  ! '  was  given.  Adam  fired,  but  Fox  did  not.  His 
seconds,  greatly  excited,  told  him  that  he  must  fire. 
"I'll  be  damned  if  I  do!"  said  Fox;  "/  have  no 
quarrel  !  "  Whereupon  the  two  adversaries  advanced 
to  shake  hands.  "Adam,"  said  Fox  complacently, 
"  you'd  have  killed  me  if  it  hadn't  been  for  the  badness 
of  Government  powder  !  "  The  ball  had  hit  him  in  the 
groin  and  had  fallen  into  his  breeches.  Needless  to 
say,  after  this  Adam  and  Fox  were  devoted  friends.2 

1  William  Adam,  1751-1839,  Attorney-General  to  the  Prince  of 
Wales. 

2  This  was  the  famous  Fox  and  Adam  duel  which  took  place  in  1779. 
A  different  version  of  the  story  is  given  by  Earl  Russell  in  his  Life  and 
Times  of  C.J.  Fox  (1866),  Vol.  I,  p.  219.  Another,  in  Life  and  Letters 
of  Lady  Sarah  Lennox,  Vol.  I,  pp.  302-3.  But  Haydon  confirms  the 
above  version  related  by  Coke  (see  Haydon's  Journals  and  Correspond- 
ence, edited  and  compiled  by  T.  Taylor,  1853,  Vol.  II,  p.  376). 

The  Westminster  Play  of  that  year  was  Phormio,  and  the  epilogue 


330  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1786 

Fox,  in  common  with  his  generation,  had  a  profound 
admiration  for  his  beautiful  champion,  the  Duchess  of 
Devonshire.  On  one  occasion  he  turned  to  her  at 
dinner  and  demanded  abruptly,  "  Do  you  know  what 
you  are  like? " 

The  Duchess,  anticipating  a  compliment,  smilingly 
shook  her  head. 

1 1  You,"  pronounced  Fox,  glancing  at  the  fruit  upon 
his  plate,  "are  like  a  bunch  of  grapes." 

Somewhat  mystified,  the  Duchess  confessed  that  she 
could  not  discover  the  connection  of  ideas,  and  begged 
that  Fox  would  explain  his  meaning. 

"  Vous  plaisez  jusqu1  a  Vivresse!  "  responded  Fox. 

Soon  after  Fox  came  into  power,  Coke  dined  with 
him.  During  dinner  Fox  talked  most  frankly  before 
the  servants,  so  that,  when  they  were  gone,  one  of  his 
friends  said  to  him,  "  Fox,  how  can  you  go  on  like  that 
when  the  servants  are  in  the  room?"  "And  why  the 
devil,"  said  Fox,  "should  they  not  know  as  much  as 
myself?"1 

The  sympathy  between  Fox  and  Coke  as  politicians 
was  even  surpassed  by  their  sympathy  as  sportsmen. 
Coke  used  to  say  that  Fox,  like  himself,  was  as  fond  of 
shooting  as  any  schoolboy ;  so  eager,  indeed,  was 
Fox  that  he  would  constantly  put  the  shot  into  the  gun 
before  the  powder.  A  certain  amicable  rivalry  existed 
between  him  and  Coke  with  regard  to  their  prowess 

was  spoken  in  the  character  of  a  Government  Powder  Contractor.  It 
ended  <<  Quin  cum  privatis  certetur  ubique  duellis 

Nemo  perit — pugnat  pulvere  quisque  mea," 

which  was  received  with  shouts  of  laughter  by  Westminster  Whigs  and 
Tories. 

1  Haydon,  Journals  and  Correspondence  (1853),  Vol.  II,  p.  377. 


1786]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  331 

with  the  gun.  It  was  at  the  instigation  of  Fox  that, 
in  1797,  Coke,  in  fulfilment  of  a  wager,  shot  at  Warham, 
in  a  mile  circumference,  forty  brace  of  partridges  in 
eight  hours  in  ninety-three  shots,  each  bird  being  killed 
singly,  and  with  the  old  muzzle-loaders.  The  day 
before,  at  the  same  spot,  he  had  killed  twenty-two  and 
a  half  brace  in  three  hours.  In  consequence  of  a  like 
bet  that  he  would  kill  thirty  brace  of  partridges  between 
sunrise  and  sunset  with  a  single  barrel,  in  1788,  he 
killed  eighty-eight  birds  on  the  manor  of  Wighton,  and 
only  missed  four  shots  during  the  entire  day.  Daniel, 
in  his  Rural  Sports ^  remarks  how,  on  another  occasion, 
"  Mr.  Coke  killed  in  five  days  726  partridges;  surely 
the  number  of  discharges  must  deafen  the  operator, 
putting  the  destruction  out  of  the  question  ;  and  Mr. 
Coke  is  so  capital  a  marksman  that  as  he  inflicts  death 
whenever  he  pulls  the  trigger,  he  should  in  mercy 
forbear  such  terrible  examples  of  his  skill."  It  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  his  gun  was  a  flint-and-steel,  and 
that  it  was  therefore  necessary  for  him  to  fire  two  and  a 
half  times  further  ahead  of  a  bird  flying  rapidly  across 
the  shooter  than  if  a  percussion  gun  had  been  used,  i.e. 
the  wielder  of  the  flint-and-lock  gun  must  aim  five 
yards  ahead  of  a  partridge,  where  the  wielder  of  a  per- 
cussion would  aim  two  yards  ahead  of  the  same  quarry. 

Fox,  with  his  uncontrollable  impetuosity,  could  never 
come  within  measurable  distance  of  Coke's  success  as 
a  sportsman,  but  this  fact  in  no  wise  diminished  his 
ardour.  Occasionally,  however,  other  impulses  were 
known  to  interfere  with  his  ruling  passion.  One  hot 
September  morning  he  set  out  from  Holkham  fully 

1  Rural  Sports,  by  the  Rev.  W.  B.  Daniel  (1813),  Vol.  IV. 


332  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1786 
anticipating  a  good  day's  sport  at  Egmere,  Coke's  best 
partridge  beat.  As  was  usual  with  sportsmen  in  those 
days,  he  started  at  daylight.  Just  as  the  family  were 
sitting  down  to  breakfast,  Fox  was  seen  staggering 
home.  "Not  ill,  Charles?"  inquired  his  host  anxiously. 
"No,"  was  the  meek  reply,  "only  tipsy!"  Being 
thirsty  he  had  asked  a  tenant  of  Egmere  for  a  bowl  of 
milk,  and  was  too  easily  persuaded  to  add  thereto  a 
certain,  or  rather  uncertain  quantity  of  rum.  As  a 
consequence,  he  passed  the  rest  of  the  day  in  bed 
instead  of  in  the  turnip  field.1 

Another  time  a  party  of  Holkham  shooters  who  had 
started  out  at  daybreak  were  driven  home  by  a  heavy 
rain.  Fox,  however,  who  was  reluctant  to  abandon  all 
hope  of  his  day's  sport,  was  left  behind,  sheltering 
under  some  fir  trees  in  company  with  a  labourer  who 
had  been  ploughing  near.  All  day  long  it  rained 
incessantly,  but  Fox  did  not  reappear.  Dinner-time 
arrived  and  the  ladies  were  all  waiting,  assembled  in 
the  Saloon,  when  into  their  midst  arrived  Fox,  drip- 
ping wet.  "  Where  have  you  been,  Charles  ?  "  inquired 
his  host.  "  Why,  talking  to  that  man  all  day,"  replied 
Fox;  "there's  hardly  a  man  I  can't  get  something 
useful  out  of  if  he  only  talks  ! "  It  appears  that  the 
labourer  had  been  giving  him  a  history  of  the  system  of 
turnip  husbandry,  just  then  come  into  vogue,  and  so  ab- 
sorbed was  the  statesman  in  the  company  of  the  plough- 
man, that  he  found  it  impossible  to  tear  himself  away.2 

Fox's  visits  to  Holkham  were  often  followed  by  a 

1  Fifty  Years  of  My  Life,  by  George  Thomas,  Earl  of  Albemarle, 
(1876),  Vol.  I,  p.  244. 

2  Op.  city  Vol.  I,  p.  244;  also  Haydon's  Correspondence  and  Journals, 
Vol.  II,  p.  377. 


1786]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  333 

sojourn  at  Quidenham,1  and  vice  versa  ;  indeed,  the 
intimacy  between  the  two  houses  constantly  led  to  an 
interchange  of  guests.  Bob  Jeffs,  Lord  Keppel's  game- 
keeper, who  was  a  great  friend  of  Fox's,  was  a  notorious 
story-teller,  and  used  to  vie  with  Baron  Munchausen  in 
the  marvellous  tales  he  related.  Fox  was  in  the  habit 
of  stopping  on  the  road  as  soon  as  he  came  to  Lord 
Keppel's  manor,  and  beginning  his  day's  sport  with 
Bob,  who  was  on  the  look-out  for  him.  Upon  one  of 
these  occasions,  however,  he  lost  his  watch.  In  the 
month  of  February,  after  the  break  up  of  a  long  frost 
and  deep  snow,  Bob  found  the  watch,  he  told  Mr. 
Coke,  hanging  on  a  fence,  and  going  correctly  J '2 

Lord  Albemarle  points  out  how,  in  an  establishment 
like  Holkham,  gamekeepers  are  persons  of  importance; 
and  the  celebrated  Bob  Jeffs  of  Quidenham  found  a  rival 
in  old  Joe  Hibbert  at  Holkham,  who  had  been  a  prize- 
fighter in  the  days  of  his  youth.  On  one  occasion  Sir 
John  Shelley,  who  was  celebrated  for  his  neat  sparring, 
challenged  Hibbert  to  a  set-to  with  the  gloves,  and 
some  of  the  young  men  staying  in  the  house  mischiev- 
ously promised  Joe  a  good  tip  if  he  would  administer  a 
judicious  punishment  to  Sir  John.  Joe  put  on  the 
gloves,  but  drew  them  off  again  ;  turning  round  upon 
his  backers  he  exclaimed,  "  Not  for  twice  the  money 
would  I  strike  a  gentleman  !  " 

Another  curious  character  was  J.  Hawkesworth,  who 
was  gamekeeper  at  Holkham  for  many  years,  and 
finally  died  at  the  age  of  seventy  in  1804.  He  became 
very  eccentric  as  he  grew  older,  and  never  associated 

1  The  seat  of  Lord  Albemarle. 

2  From  the  Hon.  the  Rev.  T.  Keppel's  notebook. 


334  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1786 

with  or  spoke  to  any  persons  unless  he  was  first 
addressed.  He  was  very  miserly,  and,  it  was  said,  had 
accumulated  a  large  fortune  which  he  hid  from  fear  of 
invasion,  his  death  being  actually  due  to  his  having 
deprived  himself  of  sufficient  nourishment.  Coke 
always  furnished  him  with  proper  liveries,  but  he  would 
not  wear  them,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  the  suits  he 
had  hoarded  were  supposed  to  be  worth  more  than 
£100.  His  dress  was  of  the  most  miserable  description, 
and  he  always  wore  an  old  painted  hat  patched  over 
with  pieces  of  cloth.  He  was  known  throughout  the 
neighbourhood  by  the  name  of  the  "  Walking  Obelisk ." 

The  battues  at  Holkham  began  on  the  first  Wed- 
nesday in  November  and  continued  twice  a  week  for 
the  rest  of  the  season.  The  amount  of  game  killed  in 
three  months  was  probably  not  more  than  it  is  now 
the  fashion  to  slaughter  in  so  many  days,  but  the  flint- 
and-steel  guns  always  found  plenty  of  work,  and  every- 
body enjoyed  his  day's  sport,  returning  home  con- 
tented and  hungry  after  long  hours  of  vigorous  exer- 
cise. The  non-battue  days  were  passed  either  in  the 
turnip  fields  among  the  partridges,  or  in  the  salt 
marshes  in  pursuit  of  snipe  and  wild-fowl. 

Coke,  besides  being  a  keen  sportsman,  was  an 
equally  keen  game-preserver,  and  very  determined  that 
his  neighbour's  rights  as  well  as  his  own  should  be 
respected.  At  Flitcham  a  trout  stream  separated  his 
property  from  that  of  Sir  Martin  ffolkes,  of  Hilling- 
ton.  A  story  runs  that  Coke's  brother  Edward,  when 
shooting  at  Flitcham,  was  so  anxious  to  prevent  the 
pheasants  from  going  over  to  Hillington  that  he 
waded  up  mid-stream.     Sir  Martin  ffolkes  saw  him 


1786]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  335 

thus  employed,  and  cordially  invited  him  to  come  on  to 
the  Hillington  side  of  the  stream  out  of  the  wet. 
When  Coke  heard  what  had  occurred  he  was  ex- 
tremely angry,  and  swore  that  it  should  never  happen 
again.  He  thereupon  gave  the  Flitcham  shooting  to 
Sir  Martin  as  a  free  gift.  1 '  Undoubtedly,"  he  wrote, 
"as  long  as  the  manor  of  Flitcham  is  an  object  worthy 
your  attention,  no  power  whatever  will  be  given  by  me 
for  others  to  interfere  with  your  amusement "  ;  and  he 
sent  an  injunction  to  his  tenants  that  they  should  not 
suffer  anybody  to  shoot  there  without  "Sir  Martin's 
leave  first  obtained."  The  shooting  remained  in  the  pos- 
session of  Sir  Martin's  family,  without  rent,  until  i860. 

For  three  months  during  the  shooting  season  Holk- 
ham  was  filled  from  end  to  end,  and  the  old  game- 
books  present  an  interesting  record  of  the  guests  whose 
sojourn  was  the  most  frequent  and  most  prolonged  ; 
amongst  whom,  at  this  date,  the  names  of  Fox  and 
Sheridan  rank  foremost.  When  friends  who  came  from 
any  distance  had  to  post  across  country  during  long, 
wearisome  days,  they  often  extended  their  visit  for 
some  weeks.  It  was  no  unusual  thing  for  a  party  of 
from  fifty  to  eighty  guests  and  their  servants  to  be 
quartered  on  their  host  for  an  indefinite  period  ;  and 
Royalty  often  stayed  for  a  length  of  time  which,  in 
these  days  of  lavish  display,  would  mean  ruin  to  their 
entertainers.  In  later  years  the  Duke  of  Sussex  1  often 
spent  a  couple  of  months  at  Holkham  during  the 
winter.    The  Duke  of  Gloucester  2  came  twice  a  year, 

1  Augustus  Frederick,  Duke  of  Sussex,  son  of  George  III. 

2  William  Frederick,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  nephew  of  George  III, 
m.  Princess  Mary,  daughter  of  George  III. 


336  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1787 
but  for  a  shorter  period  ;  and  an  annual  though  less 
lengthy  guest  was  George,  Prince  of  Wales,  afterwards 
George  IV.  "  George  the  Fourth,  when  Prince  of 
Wales,"  says  a  writer  in  the  Monthly  Magazine,1  "  was 
exceedingly  fond  of  Mr.  Coke,  and  paid  frequent  visits 
to  Holkham.  His  Royal  Highness  was  accustomed  to 
live  in  the  greatest  familiarity  with  him,  and  usually 
saluted  him  with  the  graceful  salutation  of  '  My  brother 
Whig!' — His  Royal  Highness,"  the  writer  concludes 
sarcastically,  i ' was  then  a  subject;  Mr.  Coke  con- 
tinues one,  and  is  still  a  Whig!  " 

In  the  days  of  his  intimacy  at  Holkham,  the  Prince 
of  Wales  was  believed  to  be  a  very  warm  adherent  of 
the  Whig  cause  ;  and  in  him  the  Whigs  placed  their 
hopes  for  the  future.  An  event,  however,  occurred  in 
1787  which,  although  it  had  no  direct  bearing  on  party 
politics,  first  rudely  shook  the  faith  of  both  Fox  and 
Coke  in  the  Prince's  honour  and  integrity. 

Part  of  this  story,  which  is  well  known,  need  only  be 
very  briefly  recapitulated.  In  the  summer  of  1784,  the 
Prince  had  fallen  desperately  in  love  with  Mrs.  Fitz- 
herbert,  a  lady  whose  character  was  irreproachable  and 
whose  beauty  was  generally  admired.  She  was  an 
earnest  Roman  Catholic,  and  unlikely  to  change  her 
religion  from  any  worldly  motives.  The  Prince,  who 
was  like  a  spoilt  child  when  thwarted,  used  to  call  on 
Coke  as  well  as  on  Fox  and  Mrs.  Armistead,2  to 
discuss  his  unhappy  romance ;  and,  as  Fox  related, 
would  testify  to  the  vehemence  of  his  passion  by  violent 
paroxysms  of  sobbing,  by  striking  his  forehead,  tear- 

1  Quoted  in  The  Georgian  Era  by  Clarke  (1833),  Vol.  IV,  p.  52. 

2  Miss  Blane,  whom  he  married  in  1795. 


1787]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  337 

ing  his  hair,  falling  into  hysterics,  and  swearing  that 
he  would  abandon  everything  and  fly  to  America  with 
the  object  of  his  affection. 

Both  Fox  and  Coke,  in  whom  he  constantly  confided, 
gave  him  sound  advice  upon  the  subject,  which,  how- 
ever, was  unavailing.  After  one  of  his  talks  with  Fox 
he  stabbed  himself,  inflicting  a  real  wound.  Thereupon 
Mrs.  Fitzherbert  was  informed  that  her  acquiescence 
was  necessary  to  save  the  Prince's  life.  She  repaired, 
unwillingly,  to  Carlton  House,  where  the  Prince  put  a 
ring  on  her  finger ;  but  she  still  remained  obdurate  in 
her  refusal  to  marry  him,  and  left  that  same  day  for 
Holland.  For  a  year  she  remained  abroad.  At  the  end 
of  that  time,  in  December  1785,  she  returned  to  England, 
and  it  being  rumoured  that  she  had  consented  to  the 
marriage,  Fox  wrote  urgently  to  the  Prince  on  Decem- 
ber 10th,  1785,  pointing  out  the  political  danger  of  such 
an  event.  The  Prince,  in  reply,  the  next  day,  assured 
him  that  there  were  no  grounds  whatever  for  such  a 
supposition.  4 'Make  yourself  easy,  my  dear  friend," 
he  wrote;  "  believe  me,  the  world  will  now  soon  be  con- 
vinced that  there  not  only  is  not,  but  never  was,  any 
ground  for  these  reports  which  of  late  have  been  so 
malevolently  circulated  !  " 

The  duplicity  of  this  statement  is  the  more  striking 
since  in  it  the  Prince  deliberately  implies  a  denial  of 
the  rumoured  marriage,  while,  by  referring  to  it  only 
under  the  vague  term  of  "  these  reports  "  which  have 
been  "  circulated,"  he  avoids  exposing  himself  to  the 
utterance  of  a  lie  which  could  afterwards  be  proved 
against  him.  Yet  at  the  very  time  when  he  wrote  thus, 
he  was  devising  every  possible  plan  to  accomplish  his 
1. — z 


338  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1787 

secret  marriage,  and  it  took  place  immediately  after- 
wards, on  December  21st. 

In  the  spring  of  1787  there  arose  the  question  of  pay- 
ing his  debts,  which  amounted  to  £160,000.  The  King 
refused  to  discharge  them,  and  the  Prince  appealed  to 
Parliament  to  do  so.  The  issue  at  once  turned  upon 
the  question  whether  a  marriage  with  Mrs.  Fitzherbert 
had  or  had  not  taken  place.  By  an  Act  of  Parliament, 
marriage  with  a  Roman  Catholic  invalidated  all  claims 
to  the  throne  ;  while  by  a  second  statute,  the  Royal 
Marriage  Act,  any  marriage  contracted  without  the 
Royal  Consent  was  null.  By  pleading  the  second  the 
Prince  could  avoid  the  action  of  the  first,  although,  by 
doing  this,  he  was  virtually  evading  the  law  and 
literally  taking  away  the  character  of  his  wife.  This 
he  did  not  scruple  to  do  in  order  to  achieve  his  object. 
He  had  placed  in  Fox's  possession — or  so  Fox  believed — 
the  authority  to  declare  that  the  marriage  had  not  taken 
place;  and  Fox,  trusting  in  the  Prince's  honour,  denied 
it  absolutely  in  the  House  on  April  30th,  at  the  same 
time  stating  that  he  had  direct  authority  for  so  doing.  , 

The  result  of  a  solemn  assurance,  given  on  the 
honour  of  a  statesman  whose  veracity  was  held  to  be 
above  suspicion,  was  that  £161,000  were  voted  for  the 
payment  of  the  Prince's  debts,  and  £20,000  for  the 
completion  of  Carlton  House.  It  is  said  that  the  very 
same  day  Orlando  Bridgman1  came  up  to  Fox  at 
Brooks's  and  said,  "  I  see  by  the  papers,  Mr.  Fox,  you 
have  denied  the  fact  of  the  marriage  of  the  Prince  with 
Mrs.  Fitzherbert.  You  have  been  misinformed.  I  was 
present  at  the  marriage." 

1  Afterwards  Lord  Bradford. 


1787]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  339 

Now  this  statement,  though  very  generally  received, 
is  undoubtedly  apocryphal.  Not  only  is  there  ample 
proof  that  Orlando  Bridgman  never  was  present  at  the 
marriage,  but  Fox,  still  obviously  unaware  that  he  had 
been  duped,  continued  to  correspond  affectionately 
with  the  Prince  so  late  as  May  10th  following.  It  has, 
in  explanation  of  this  latter  fact,  been  suggested  that 
Fox  had  received  no  further  authority  for  denying  the 
marriage  than  that  afforded  by  the  Prince's  evasive 
assertion  in  his  letter  of  December  nth,  written  pre- 
viously to  the  wedding  having  taken  place  ;  yet  that, 
actuated  by  reasons  of  expediency,  the  diplomatic 
statesman,  conveniently  closing  his  eyes  to  the  shifty 
character  of  the  Prince  and  to  the  probability  of  a 
marriage  having  occurred  subsequently  to  that  date, 
used  the  letter  as  his  " direct  authority"  for  proclaim- 
ing as  true  what  he  saw  to  be  advantageous.1  But 
Fox,  whatever  his  failings,  was  no  hypocrite,  and 
evidence  is  plentiful  that  the  man  with  whom  he  had 
to  deal  was  one.  Had  the  Prince  not  been  the  author 
of  Fox's  lie  on  this  occasion,  whatever  His  Royal  High- 
ness's  attitude  in  public  to  secure  payment  of  his  debts, 
in  private,  and  with  so  great  a  friend  as  Fox  then  was, 
he  would  surely  not  have  made  himself  an  accessory  to 
that  lie,  by  the  affectionate  and  approving  letters  which 
he  wrote  to  Fox  immediately  after  its  utterance  "on 
direct  authority."  Still  more,  Fox's  own  conduct 
affords  striking  proof  of  personal  honesty,  for  having 
remained  friendly  with  the  Prince  until  May  10th, 
what  possible  cause  can  be  assigned  for  his  subsequent 

1  Mrs.  Fitzherbert  and  George  IV,  by  W.  H.  Wilkins  (1904),  Vol.  I, 
p.  202. 


340  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 

open  rupture  with  His  Royal  Highness  were  it  not 
that,  by  some  means,  the  Prince's  duplicity  had  at 
length  been  disclosed  to  him? 

But  after  all  the  discussion  which  the  matter  has 
evoked,  it  is  the  more  interesting  to  find  that  Fox's 
own  statement  to  Coke  apparently  puts  the  question  of 
his  integrity  beyond  all  doubt.  Coke  was  his  great 
friend,  with  whom  it  is  incredible  that  he  should  have 
acted  a  double  part,  yet  in  the  summer  of  1788  he  went 
to  Coke  in  a  state  of  profound  indignation,  and  related 
that  he  had  discovered  himself  to  have  been  duped  by 
the  Prince.  Not  only,  as  he  pointed  out,  had  he  to 
bear  the  onus  of  that  lie  which  the  public  failed  to 
accept,  and  to  which  it  was  now  said  that  both  himself 
and  the  entire  Whig  party  were  privy,  but  he  saw 
himself  unable  to  withdraw  the  erroneous  statement 
which  he  had  made,  since  the  matter  then  undergoing 
discussion  had  been  decided  in  consequence  of  that 
statement ;  and  now  publicly  to  proclaim  the  Prince's 
duplicity  would  involve  complications  for  the  country 
which,  at  all  costs,  must  be  avoided. 

Coke  shared  his  disgust,  and  the  epithets  applied  to 
the  Prince  during  that  conversation  might  have  been 
salutary  hearing  for  His  Royal  Highness.  But  Coke 
was  not  bound  by  the  considerations  which  enforced 
silence  upon  Fox.  A  short  time  afterwards  the  Prince 
wrote  complacently  to  propose  his  annual  visit  to  Holk- 
ham,  and  Coke's  reply  was  brief  and  characteristic  : 

"  Holkham  is  open  to  Strangers  on  Tuesdays."1 
This  would  have  been  conclusive  for  most  people  ;  but 

1  Related  by  Coke's  third  son,  the  Hon.  Henry  Coke. 


1788]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  341 

the  Prince  never  allowed  his  pride  to  interfere  with  his 
convenience.  He  saw  himself  cut  by  two  of  the  most 
powerful  representatives  of  the  party  he  had  espoused, 
and  while  he  recognised  that  it  was  to  his  disadvantage 
to  quarrel  with  so  prominent  and  popular  a  man  as 
Coke,  he  understood  that  his  best  hope  of  reconciliation 
with  Fox  likewise  lay  in  retaining  the  friendship  of 
Fox's  great  ally.  Accordingly,  the  sequel  to  the  story 
is  somewhat  extraordinary. 

The  following  autumn  Fox  was  afraid  that  he  would 
not  be  able  to  come  to  Holkham  as  usual,  on  account  of 
the  indisposition  of  Mrs.  Armistead.  Coke  wrote  to 
urge  him  to  do  so,  and  on  October  4th,  Fox  wrote  :  "I 
received  this  morning  your  obliging  letter.  Mrs. 
Armistead  is  quite  recovered,  and  I  think  it  next  to  im- 
possible that  anything  should  prevent  my  being  at 
Holkham  on  the  19th  or  20th  at  latest  of  this  month." 

Shortly  after  his  arrival  at  Holkham,  however,  a 
recurrence  of  Mrs.  Armistead's  illness  gave  him  cause 
for  anxiety,  and  he  left  sooner  than  he  had  intended. 
The  very  day  of  this  unexpected  departure,  Coke 
received  the  intelligence  of  a  still  more  unexpected 
arrival.  A  royal  outrider  appeared,  who  announced 
that  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  posting  to  Holkham,  and 
would  reach  there  that  same  evening. 

The  law  of  hospitality,  even  towards  an  unbidden 
guest,  could  not  be  infringed.  Coke  felt  that  he  had 
no  choice  but  to  receive  his  unwelcome  visitor,  who 
followed  hard  upon  the  heels  of  his  messenger,  and 
reached  Holkham  at  seven  that  night.  The  Prince 
carefully  ignored  the  marked  absence  of  cordiality  on 
the  part  of  his  host,  and  appeared  in  excellent  spirits 


342  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 

and  extremely  friendly.  Towards  eight,  the  company 
assembled  for  dinner,  which  had  been  delayed  till  that 
unusual  hour  on  account  of  His  Royal  Highness's 
arrival.  When  at  length  dessert  was  on  the  table,  the 
Prince  arose,  and  begged  leave  to  give  a  bumper  toast. 
He  solemnly  announced  :  "  The  health  of  the  best  man 
in  England— Mr.  Fox!" 

The  toast,  while  it  created  some  silent  amusement, 
met  with  a  hearty  response.  Others  were  proposed, 
and  much  wine  was  drunk.  It  was  near  one  o'clock 
before  the  company  showed  signs  of  dispersing  ;  and, 
just  before  leaving  the  dining-room,  the  Prince  rose 
again,  and  again  gave  a  bumper  toast — "The  health 
of  the  best  man  in  England — Mr.  Fox  ! "  At  nine 
o'clock  the  next  morning  he  left  Holkham  on  his  return 
to  London. 

What  further  took  place  between  Coke  and  the  Prince 
in  that  hastily  patched-up  reconciliation  is  not  known. 
Coke,  in  relating  the  story  to  Lord  John  Russell,  who 
mentions  it  in  his  life  of  Fox,1  merely  said  that  the 
palpable  object  of  the  Prince's  visit  was  to  find  Fox 
at  Holkham  and  effect  a  reconciliation  with  him. 
He  did  not  mention  that,  in  travelling  all  the  way 
to  Holkham  in  order  to  drink  Fox's  health,  the 
Prince  had  determined  also  to  force  a  reconciliation 
with  his  host.  Fox,  on  his  part,  refused  to  speak 
to  the  Prince  again  for  more  than  a  year ;  and, 
disgusted  at  the  manner  in  which  he  had  been  treated, 
and  out  of  heart  at  the  position  in  which  he  found 
himself,   he  started   on  a  prolonged  tour  abroad. 

1  See  Life  and  Times  of  Charles  James  Fox,  by  Earl  Russell,  1859-66, 
Vol.  II,  p.  187. 


1788]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  343 

Although  for  political  rather  than  personal  reasons 
he  subsequently  acted  with  the  Prince,  he  never  again 
believed  in  him  ;  while  Coke,  although  for  a  time 
he  admitted  the  Prince  to  his  acquaintance,  never 
again  admitted  him  to  his  former  trust  and  confidence. 

The  following  year,  however,  the  Prince  once  more 
proposed  a  visit  to  Holkham,  but  which  was  unex- 
pectedly prevented.  On  November  5th  occurred  the 
centenary  of  the  landing  of  William  of  Orange  at 
Torbay ;  and  Norfolk  determined  to  celebrate  the 
occasion  with  due  rejoicing.  In  Norwich  great  pre- 
parations were  made  for  the  event,  while  at  Holkham 
the  great  Whig  festival  promised  to  be  on  a  more 
elaborate  scale.  Hearing  of  this,  the  Prince  of  Wales 
sent  a  special  message,  couched  in  the  form  of  a  request 
that  he  might  be  present ;  which  suggestion  was  re- 
ceived with  civility  ;  and,  forthwith,  upon  the  list  of 
expected  guests  was  entered:  "The  Prince  of  Wales 
from  Carlton  House  with  six  attendants." 

But  the  day  before  the  fete,  when  the  Prince  had 
journeyed  as  far  as  Newmarket  on  his  way  to  Holk- 
ham, he  was  overtaken  by  an  express  messenger  inform- 
ing him  that  the  King's  mental  condition  was  such  as  to 
necessitate  his  immediate  presence  at  Windsor.  Very 
reluctantly,  therefore,  he  turned  his  horses'  heads  about ; 
and  in  days  when  nothing  was  sacred  from  the  wit  of 
wags,  many  were  the  jests  upon  the  fact  that  Newmarket 
had  proved  the  unexpected  goal  of  the  Prince's  journey. 

On  the  6th,  Fanny  Burney  relates  how,  at  Windsor, 
' i  Suddenly  arrived  the  Prince  of  Wales.  .  .  .  He  had 
just  quitted  Brightenhelmstone  "  ;  but  Fanny  Burney 
was  no  doubt  purposely  misinformed  ;  the  Prince  had 


344  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 

returned  from  his  interrupted  journey  to  his  father's 
bete  noir  at  Holkham,  and  came  at  the  call  of  his 
friends,  not  knowing  whether  the  King's  illness  boded 
a  Crown  or  a  Regency  for  himself.  Queen  Charlotte, 
recognising  with  bitter  jealousy  the  power  which  he 
anticipated,  received  him  with  distant  coldness,  which 
Fanny  Burney  observed,  but  failed  to  understand. 
"  Something  passing  within,"  she  remarks,  "  seemed 
to  render  this  meeting  awfully  distant  on  both  sides."1 
But  the  Holkham  fete  took  place  none  the  less 
merrily  despite  the  Prince's  absence.  For  weeks 
beforehand  it  had  formed  the  one  topic  of  conversation 
throughout  the  county.  It  was,  in  fact,  a  great  political 
entertainment,  yet  every  care  was  taken  to  avoid  giving 
it  a  party  character ;  cards  were  to  be  sent  to  every 
gentleman  and  beneficed  clergyman  in  Norfolk  and  all 
were  to  be  bidden  irrespective  of  their  professed  politi- 
cal views.  But  in  giving  such  a  colossal  entertain- 
ment, Mr.  and  Mrs.  Coke  were  naturally  very 
anxious  that  no  offence  should  be  occasioned  by 
the  unintentional  omission  of  any  who  had  a  right 
to  expect  an  invitation.  Some  competent  person, 
therefore,  in  each  Norfolk  town  was  deputed  by  them 
to  prepare  a  careful  list  of  all  residents  who  were 
entitled  to  notice  ;  and  these  lists  were  supplemented 
by  much  unsolicited  correspondence  which  poured  in 
from  all  quarters,  supplying  further  names  and  offer- 
ing suggestions.  A  well-wisher,  who  prefers  to  be 
anonymous,  calmly  proposes  that  those  who  cannot  be 
invited  to  the  house  should  have  a  public  invitation  to 
the  fireworks  in  the  park  ;  several  mention  names  of 

1  Diary  and  Letters  of  Madame  d'Arblay,  1842-6,  Vol.  IV,  p.  285. 


1788]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  345 

old  or  infirm  persons  who,  although  unable  to  be  pre- 
sent, would  yet  be  "  highly  gratified  at  your  notice  "  ; 
while  an  excited  correspondent  announces  in  great 
agitation  that  "  Archdeacon  Warburton  and  family, 
hitherto  your  warm  partisans,  are  greatly  incensed 
at  not  being  invited  ! " 

As  was  inevitable  in  such  an  undertaking,  omissions 
were  made  and  offence  was  given.  While  partisans 
were  offended  at  being  accidentally  forgotten,  oppo- 
nents appeared  unreasonably  offended  at  being  invited  ; 
and  a  certain  proportion  of  both  were  indignant  at  fancy- 
ing that  invitations  received  late  were  an  afterthought. 
The  lists  from  each  town  are  still  preserved  at  Holkham, 
and  also  the  answers  of  the  invited,  strung  together 
upon  string  in  alphabetical  order,  together  with  a  book 
in  which  they  are  again  carefully  recorded.  Down  one 
column  are  entered  their  names,  down  another  their 
answers — whether  "  Yes  "or  "  No  "  ;  down  a  third,  the 
nature  of  these  answers ;  and  under  this  last  heading 
we  are  presented  with  an  amusing  variety.  "Civil  with 
a  reason"  or  "Sensible  with  a  reason"  are  evidently 
much  appreciated  ;  but  many  are  pronounced — "  Civil, 
but  no  reason"  or  simply  16  No  reason."  "Friendly" 
and  "  Very  friendly"  jostle  "  Rather  angry."  Against 
three  "Noes"  are  written  respectively,  "Sensible — Age 
— Distance — Ill-health."  Lord  Rosebery,  we  learn, 
was  "Coolly  civil"  ;  Windham,  "An  amicable  and  de- 
cisive friend."  One  alone  was  "Insolent")  while 
against  the  "No"  entered  opposite  the  unfortunate 
"Archdeacon  Warburton  and  family"  is  put  the  sad 
memorandum,  "  Very  angry  at  the  lateness  of  the  card." 
Some  of  the  invited  apparently  declined  humbly  be- 


346  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 

cause,  though  gratified  at  the  invitation,  they  did  not 
consider  their  social  position  warranted  their  accept- 
ance of  it.  The  Reverend  Edmund  Nelson  declined 
without  explanation,  and  no  comment  being  annexed, 
it  appears  that  his  reason  was  recognised  to  be  political. 
Still  strung  upon  the  list  of  answers  is  the  somewhat 
brusque  refusal  of  young  Captain  Nelson,  who  had 
just  returned  to  Burnham  Thorpe  from  Bath  with  his 
recently-married  wife,  of  whom  the  letter — written  by 
her,  presumably  at  his  dictation — omits  all  mention  : — 

"Captain  Nelson's  compliments  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Coke,  and  is  sorry  it  is  not  in  his  power  to  accept 
their  invitation  for  November  5th. 

"Burnham,  October  31st,  1788." 

As  many  guests  as  could  be  accommodated  in  the 
house  were  invited  to  spend  the  night  there,  and  every 
corner  of  Holkham  was  to  be  inhabited.  "  At  the  ball 
last  night,"  writes  a  grateful  friend  on  October  nth, 
"you  were  so  kind  as  to  hint  that  it  might  be  possible 
for  my  wife  and  myself  to  creep  into  a  garret  on  the 
approaching  glorious  5th  of  November  "  ;  and  on  this 
occasion,  at  least,  Coke  determined  to  gratify  what  he 
always  described  as  his  greatest  satisfaction :  he  would 
see  Holkham  "filled  from  end  to  end."  Of  his  imme- 
diate friends,  Fox,  as  has  been  mentioned,  was  abroad, 
ostensibly  travelling  for  his  health  through  Switzerland 
and  Italy;  but  Windham,  the  "amicable  and  decisive 
friend,"  had  just  returned  from  a  tour  through  France, 
and  his  answer  is  preserved  : — 

The  Rt.  Honourable  William  Windham  to  Thomas 

"My  dear  Sir,      William  Coke. 

"As  my  return  to  England  has  been  in  time  to 
receive  your  invitation,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the 


Facsimile  of  Mrs.  Horatio  Nelson's  answer  to  the  invitation  from 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  W.  Coke 


1788]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  347 


answer  to  be  given  to  it.  I  shall  not  fail  to  have  the 
pleasure  of  paying  my  respects  to  you.  A  festival  to 
celebrate  the  Revolution  is  a  proper  reception  for  a 
person  just  come  from  France,  and  there  is  no  spot 
where  I  can  feel  that  it  can  be  celebrated  with  more 
propriety  than  the  one  now  proposed. 

1 i  The  only  part  of  your  invitation  which  I  shall 
not  accept  is  the  bed.  I  beg  that  that  may  be  kept 
for  some  of  those  who  may  stand  more  in  need  of  it, 
and  probably  be  unreasonable  enough  to  feel  im- 
patient at  not  having  it.  This  is  one  of  the  few 
occasions  on  which  I  must  insist  upon  not  having 
a  bed  at  Holkham.  Pray  make  my  best  respects  to 
Mrs.  Coke,  and  believe  me, 

"  With  greatest  truth, 

"  Yours  most  sincerely, 

"  William  Windham. 

"Hill  St.,  October  \%th,  1788." 

"I  am  afraid  that  Fox,  who  has  now  got  beyond 
the  Newmarket  Meeting,  will  hardly  be  back  in  time 
for  an  occasion  when  his  presence,  I  think,  would 
neither  be  unsuitable  or  unwelcome." 

Meanwhile,  a  clever  Italian,  named  Martenelli,  had 
been  at  Holkham  ever  since  October  23rd  preparing 
the  fireworks  and  decorations.  1  1  He  says,"  a  friend 
explains  to  Mrs.  Coke,  "that  it  is  absolutely  necessary 
he  should  be  there  so  long  beforehand,  as  he  dare  not 
venture  to  send  any  of  his  works  ready-charged,  and  he 
must  assist  in  erecting  scaffolding,  etc.  .  .  .  the  poor 
fellow  really  appears  extremely  anxious  to  give  satis- 
faction !  "  Another  letter  observes  how,  in  view  of  the 
anticipated  presence  of  the  Prince,  "  I  have  just  pointed 
out  to  Martenelli  the  Prince  of  Wales'  crest  and  motto 
Ich  dien,  and  have  desired  him  to  try  what  he  can  do 
with  the  Ostrich:'1 

1  The  Coke  crest. 


348  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 

As  the  day  approached,  contributions  of  provisions 
began  to  pour  in.  Sir  Martin  and  Lady  ffolkes,  of 
Hillington  Hall,  wrote  on  November  1st,  that — "  Had 
they  not  received  a  hint,  they  would  not  have  presumed 
to  send  to  Holkham  a  Hare,  10  Brace  of  Pheasants  and 
two  couple  of  Guinea  Fowls  which  they  hope  may  be 
acceptable "  ;  while  Mr.  Dixon  Hoste,  from  Godwick, 
on  November  2nd,  sends  "8  Brace  of  Hares  and  25 
Brace  of  Partridges,"  and  hopes  further  "to  send  a 
large  parcell  of  Snipes." 

The  momentous  day  dawned  bright  and  sunny.  In 
Norwich,  from  early  morning,  flags  were  flying,  bands 
playing  and  bells  ringing  throughout  the  town.  The 
proceedings  began  with  a  thanksgiving  service  in  the 
cathedral ;  after  which  there  was  a  public  dinner  to 
the  local  dignitaries,  and  the  city  prisoners  were  also 
fed.  At  seven  in  the  evening  a  gigantic  bonfire  was  lit 
in  the  market-place,  and  the  residents  sang  or  danced 
or  paraded  round  it  to  the  strains  of  inspiriting  music, 
while  the  rest  of  the  city  was  brightly  illuminated. 

At  Holkham,  as  the  beautiful  autumn  day  faded  into 
a  clear,  still  night,  only  a  faint  breeze  blew  from  the  sea. 
While  daylight  died,  the  colonnades  along  the  house 
and  the  pillars  of  the  portico  began  to  glow  with 
wreaths  of  many-coloured  fire,  and  next,  above  the 
pediment,  in  honour  of  the  absent  guest,  there  blazed 
a  gigantic  design  of  the  Prince  of  Wales'  feathers  in 
the  Whig  colours  of  blue  and  buff.  This  threw  its 
light  far  down  the  drive,  where,  by  eight  o'clock,  the 
guests  began  to  arrive.  Soon  the  block  of  vehicles 
became  so  great  that,  in  spite  of  every  precaution,  it  is 
related  "some  accidents  and  overthrows  took  place  from 


THE  SALOON 


HOLKHAM 


1788]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  349 

the  immense  number  of  carriages  of  those  who  witnessed 
the  elegance,  magnificence  and  hospitality  of  this 
glorious  festival."  Within  the  house  the  scene  each 
moment  became  more  attractive.  Martenelli  had 
achieved  his  utmost.  How  illuminations  were  so  cun- 
ningly contrived  before  the  days  of  electric  light  I 
cannot  say  ;  but  by  some  clever  machinery  he  had 
connected  the  illuminations  within  and  without  the 
house  so  that  all  were  set  in  motion  with  but  little  effort. 
When  the  light  illumined  the  exterior  of  the  house,  the 
Egyptian  Hall  became  ablaze  with  lamps,  sparkling  in 
the  ceiling,  circling  the  niches  of  the  statues,  and 
swinging  from  colonnade  to  colonnade,  interwoven 
with  heavy  festoons  of  flowers.  As  the  guests  entered 
the  hall,  their  names  were  written  down,  and  they  were 
conducted  up  the  steps  to  the  Saloon,  at  the  door  of 
which  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Coke  received  them  standing  under 
a  transparency  on  which  glittered  the  words — Liberty 
and  our  Cause.  The  glow  from  this  bathed  both  host 
and  hostess  in  a  flood  of  light ;  and  each  Whig  chronicler 
remarked  how  it  helped  to  emphasise  the  grace  and 
stateliness  which,  at  the  age  of  thirty-four,  still  made 
Mrs.  Coke  conspicuous  as  the  most  beautiful  woman 
amidst  all  those  who  thronged  up  the  steps  to  greet  her. 

Despite  every  effort  to  make  the  party  non-political, 
few  Tories  had  accepted  the  invitation,  and  among  the 
dresses  of  the  guests  blue  and  buff  predominated,  out 
of  compliment  to  their  host  and  the  Cause.  Thus, 
while  men  as  well  as  women,  with  their  powdered  hair 
and  gay  clothing,  added  to  the  picturesqueness  of  the 
scene,  among  the  former  blue  coats  were  conspicuous, 
while  the  older  ladies  were  resplendent  in  orange  bro- 


3SO  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 

cades  and  the  younger  ones  in  white,  with  bright 
orange  silk  twisted  amongst  their  powdered  locks. 

At  nine  o'clock  dancing  began  in  the  Statue  Gallery. 
The  ball  was  opened  by  Miss  Jane  Coke,  now  a  pretty 
little  girl  of  eleven,  with  the  same  fine  features  and 
bright  eyes  as  her  mother.  In  the  absence  of  the 
Prince  she  danced  with  Lord  Petre ;  and  as,  in  a 
short-waisted  dress  which  fell  to  her  heels,  she  solemnly 
trod  the  first  measures  of  the  minuet  which  opened  the 
ball,  other  bands  simultaneously  struck  up  in  other 
rooms  out  of  ear-shot ;  some  also  playing  minuets, 
some  country  dances,  and  some  the  figures  of  a 
cotillion,  so  that  the  guests  might  have  ample  choice 
with  regard  to  which  dances  they  preferred.  In  other 
rooms,  too,  cards  were  provided  and  music  of  a  more 
serious  order. 

An  hour  later,  however,  dancing  and  cards  were  alike 
forgotten,  and  every  one  crowded  to  the  windows  of  the 
house.  At  ten  o'clock  the  grounds  and  lake  were 
illumined,  and,  for  two  hours,  a  wonderful  exhibition 
of  fireworks  was  superintended  by  the  Italian.  In  the 
fine  clear  night  over  five  thousand  people,  not  invited 
to  the  festivities  within  the  house,  had  assembled  on 
the  lawn,  and  the  crowd  in  the  park  was  even  greater. 
For  these,  booths  had  been  erected  filled  with  ample 
refreshments,  while  "  in  the  background,  beyond  the 
fireworks,  appeared  like  a  great  carbuncle  an  immense 
bonfire,  which  was  set  round  with  lesser  jewels,  but  not 
of  inferior  value  in  the  eyes  of  the  exulting  populace, 
viz.  forty  barrels  of  beer  !  " 

At  two  o'clock  the  supper  was  served  indoors.  Here, 
again,  the  clever  Italian  artist  had  surpassed  himself, 


1788]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  351 

for  we  are  told  that  44  when  the  company  first  entered 
the  supper-room,  those  who  had  trod  on  enchanted 
ground  in  chrystal  [sic]  palaces  in  the  Eastern  stories 
of  fairies  and  Genii,  seemed  to  find  the  most  luxurious 
flights  of  Arabian  magnificence  realised  ! "  And  his 
masterpiece  caused  special  admiration,  for — "  By  a 
curious  piece  of  machinery  the  crest  and  garter  were 
interwoven  in  dazzling  lights  among  the  wreaths  and 
festoons  of  flowers  which  adorned  the  table  and  turned 
this  room  into  fairyland."  1 

And  there  were  other  aids  to  enchantment,  for  all 
down  the  table  a  bottle  of  Burgundy  and  a  bottle  of 
champagne  alternately  were  placed  in  front  of  each 
guest,  to  be  replaced  when  emptied.  The  guests  who 
supped  in  the  dining-room  were  served  with  plate, 
those  in  the  other  rooms  with  almost  equally  precious 
china.  Supper  ended,  all  assembled  to  sing  the  after- 
wards famous  song,  the  "  Trumpet  of  Liberty,"  written 
for  the  occasion  by  Dr.  Samuel  Taylor,  of  Norwich, 
and  which  had  been  sung  for  the  first  time  that  same 
day  by  the  townsfolk  at  their  banquet.  Next  followed 
the  toasts,  which  we  are  told  were  received  with  "  shouts 
of  conviviality  and  good  humour."  Under  the  cir- 
cumstances, the  health  of  "  The  King,"  to  the  surprise 
of  those  present,  was  omitted — an  omission  of  which 
few  can  have  known  and  few  even  guessed  the  full 
significance.  But  the  Duke  of  Bedford  gave  the 
"  Health  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,"  and  Mrs.  Coke  added 
— "  With  sincere  regrets  for  his  absence  and  the  cause 
of  his  absence  which  prevents  him  here  celebrating  the 
glorious  Revolution." 

1  Norwich  Mercury,  November,  1788. 


352  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 

At  that  very  time  a  far  different  scene  was  being 
enacted  at  Windsor,  where  during  dinner  that  evening 
the  King's  indisposition  and  "  delirium  "  had  at  last 
declared  itself  in  an  attack  of  raving  madness.  Through 
the  long  hours  of  the  awful  night  which  followed, 
confined  in  a  dressing-room  adjoining  the  Queen's 
apartment,  George  III  was  a  prey  to  the  horrors  of 
lunacy ;  and  the  agonised  Queen,  sitting  up  with  her 
attendants,  listened  in  terror  to  his  ravings,  while,  by  a 
curious  freak  of  fate,  throughout  the  kingdom  his  sub- 
jects were  holding  high  revel  in  joyous  celebration  of  the 
* '  glorious  event"  which  had  placed  him  upon  the  throne. 

Little  recking,  however,  that  strange  element  of 
irony  in  their  rejoicing,  the  guests  at  Holkham,  their 
toasts  concluded,  resumed  dancing  merrily  ;  and 
though  some  of  the  more  craven-hearted  left  so  early  as 
4  a.m.,  the  majority  kept  it  up  with  spirit  till  six 
o'clock  in  the  grey  dawn,  when  they  departed — 
Windham  to  ride  back  five-and-twenty  miles  through 
the  fresh  morning  air  to  Felbrigg,  and  many  to  be 
driven  a  yet  more  weary  distance  before  they  had  a 
chance  of  resting  their  tired  limbs. 

' '  I,"  wrote  one  of  the  guests  afterwards  to  a  friend, 
"  was  at  Mr.  Coke's  magnificent  fete  at  Holkham  on 
Nov.  5th.  Descriptions  of  it  you  have  seen  in  the 
newspapers,  without  doubt ;  it  suffices  therefore  to  tell 
you  that  they  were  not  at  all  exaggerated  ;  the  enter- 
tainment being  magnificence  itself,  and  the  splendid 
Mansion  having  quite  the  air  of  an  enchanted  castle 
when  illuminated  for  the  reception  of  the  company."1 

1  Memoir  and  Correspondence  of  Sir  James  Edward  Smith,  ed.  by 
his  wife,  Lady  Smith,  Vol.  I,  p.  351. 


1788]  SOCIAL  LIFE  RESUMED  353 

"It  will  be  a  great  satisfaction  to  you  to  know," 
Windham  informed  Coke  reassuringly,  a  few  days 
later,  ' '  that  for  once,  at  least,  people  seem  to  judge 
right,  and  there  is  no  dissenting  voice  about  the 
elegance,  splendour,  grand  conception  and  perfect 
execution  of  your  ball  at  Holkham.  I  flatter  myself, 
too,  that  as  little  offence  has  been  given  as  it  is  possible 
to  expect  in  so  general  an  attempt  to  please.  Such 
instances  as  have,  or  may  come  to  my  knowledge,  I 
shall  let  you  know,  that  where  an  opportunity  offers, 
endeavours  may  be  used  to  set  them  right. "  And  good- 
naturedly  enumerating  at  great  length  all  the  people 
inadvertently  omitted,  he  mentions  that  a  "  Mr.  Twiss, 
who  lives  at  Catton,  and  married  Mrs.  Siddons'  sister, 
feels  a  little  dissatisfied  at  not  having  received  an 
invitation,  both  by  his  situation  and  his  attachment  to 
our  party.  He  is  a  wearer  of  the  Blue  and  Buff.  I 
will  take  upon  myself  to  explain  this,  but  perhaps  you 
may  furnish  me  with  some  circumstances  that  may 
account  for  the  omission." 

None  the  less,  there  were  the  usual  scathing  com- 
ments in  the  newspapers  of  opposite  politics.  Mr.  Coke 
was  asked  what  was  "the  Cause"  which  the  trans- 
parency had  advocated,  and  which  he  apparently  wished 
to  carry  on  unknown  to  the  country  at  large.  He  was 
asked  why  the  King's  health  was  not  proposed — and 
whether  such  an  omission  would  recommend  him  to  his 
friend,  the  King's  son.  And  witticisms  were  plentiful 
respecting  the  absence  of  Fox  and  "  Bet  Armstead."1 

1  In  the  old  letters  the  name  is  spelt  respectively,  Armistead  and 
Armitstead,  but  in  the  Morning  Advertiser  and  several  daily  papers  she 
is  referred  to  as  above. 


I. — 2  A 


[1788 


CHAPTER  XVI 

DR.   SAMUEL  PARR 

BUT  the  absence  of  one  notable  guest  appears 
to  have  escaped  public  comment.  Dr.  Samuel 
Parr,  whom  Mrs.  Coke  had  consulted  so 
anxiously  respecting  the  education  of  her 
daughters,  is  entered  upon  the  List  of  Guests  invited 
for  November  5th  with  "no"  opposite  to  his  name, 
and  the  "Nature"  of  his  answer  explained  by  the 
jest—  "Par  Pari:' 

Shortly  before  the  party,  Coke  penned  an  answer  to 
Dr.  Parr's  letter  of  refusal : — 

"  Dear  Sir  "  Holkham,  October 1788. 

"Though  my  time  is  much  engaged  at  present, 
I  cannot  reconcile  to  my  feelings  the  delay,  even  of 
a  few  days,  in  answering  your  most  flattering  letter, 
or  to  express  Mrs.  Coke's  and  my  concern  that  the 
illustrious  author  of  the  preface  to  Bellendenus  should 
not  be  able  to  attend  our  secular  commemoration  of 
an  event  which  preserved  to  us  our  religious  and 
civil  liberty.  As  a  friend  to  my  country  I  must 
lament  that  your  talents  should  be  buried  in  the 
obscure  corner  where  you  now  reside  ;  not  but  what 
you  must  be  sensible  your  writings  are  far  better 
calculated  to  secure  fame  than  to  obtain  preferment. 

"  The  approbation  of  such  men  as  yourself  I  shall 
ever  esteem  as  the  highest  gratification  I  can  obtain 
from  being  in  Parliament,  and  affords  me  ample  con- 
solation in  my  private  station.    I  enclose  you  a  small 


354 


John  Jatnes  Halls,  Piuxt,  iS/j. 

REVD.   SAMUEL  PARK 


IV.  Skelton,  Sculpt. 


LL.D. 


1788]  DR.  SAMUEL  PARR  355 

bill  for  the  distressed  family  you  mention ;  and 
remain,  dear  Sir,  with  sincere  regard  and  esteem, 

"  Your  obliged  and  faithful  Friend, 

"  Thomas  William  Coke." 

In  the  previous  year,  1787,  Dr.  Parr  had  brought  out 
a  new  edition  of  the  three  books  De  Statu  of  William 
Bellenden,  a  learned  Scot,  Master  of  Requests  to 
James  I.  To  this  Parr  had  prefixed  a  preface  of  his 
own,  setting  forth  his  political  sentiments,  which  ex- 
cited great  approbation  among  the  Whig  party. 

But  it  was  not  due  only  to  political  affinity  that  Coke 
thus  professed  an  admiration  for  Dr.  Parr ;  and  in 
view  of  the  close  connection  of  the  learned  Doctor 
with  Coke  throughout  a  long  life — either  as  a  tireless 
correspondent,  an  insatiable  suppliant,  or  a  loquacious 
admirer — we  must  pause  to  glance  briefly  at  the  causes 
which  could  forge  a  link  between  two  men,  apparently 
of  such  diametrically  opposite  temperaments. 

Acknowledged  to  be  one  of  the  profoundest  Greek 
scholars  of  his  age,  Dr.  Parr  had  experienced  a  some- 
what chequered  career.  Assistant  Master  at  Harrow 
School,  1767  to  1 77 1,  he  had,  upon  the  death  of  Dr. 
Sumner,  tried  and  failed  to  obtain  the  headmastership 
there.  On  this  occasion  he  was  the  innocent  cause  of 
a  wild  riot  among  the  boys  who  had  desired  his  success, 
several  of  whom  were,  in  consequence,  expelled  from 
the  school,  among  others  being  Lord  Wellesley, 
brother  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  Subsequently, 
Parr  had  a  school  of  his  own  for  five  years,  then 
became  headmaster  of  Colchester  Grammar  School, 
next  of  Norwich  Grammar  School  in  1778. 


356  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 

To  this  residence  in  Norfolk  was  primarily  owing  his 
acquaintance  with  Coke,  who  had  previously  had  a 
slight  knowledge  of  Parr's  uncle,  Robert  Parr,  a 
learned  divine,  said  to  be  second  only  to  his  great 
nephew  in  solemnity  of  manner  and  pompous  phraseo- 
logy. This  same  Robert  Parr,  who  occasionally  visited 
a  son  living  in  Norwich,  and  who  then  impressed  all 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact  by  his  overwhelming 
dignity,  nevertheless  appears,  once  in  his  life,  to  have 
been  guilty  of  a  lapse  into  frivolity.  Dr.  Parr  recounts 
privately  in  a  letter  to  Coke  : — 

"Dr.  Chapman  [of  Eton]  was  a  most  incorrigible 
Tory,  a  blundering  Bigot,  and  a  crafty  worldling  ; 
but  I  must  say  his  learning  was  even  prodigious,  and 
among  the  naughty  wits  of  Eton  there  was  a  merry 
story,  that  Chapman  and  my  uncle  Robert  Parr 
began  to  read  the  Fathers,  one  at  one  end,  and  the 
other  at  the  other,  and  that  they  met  exactly  in  the 
middle  ! 

From  Norwich,  in  1786,  Parr  removed  to  the  Vicar- 
age of  Hatton  near  Warwick,  and  there,  much  to  the 
indignation  of  himself  and  of  his  Whig  admirers,  he 
passed  the  remainder  of  his  life  without  preferment. 
To  the  Whigs,  Parr  was  thus  a  hero  and  a  martyr ; 
since  by  his  vehement  adherence  to  their  principles  he 
had  put  himself  out  of  favour  with  the  Court  party,  and 
debarred  himself  from  worldly  advantage.  "I  wish 
that  I  had  the  happiness  to  address  this  letter  to  a 
Palace,"  wrote  the  Duke  of  Sussex  to  him  on  more 
than  one  occasion  ;  and  the  Duke  but  echoed  the  senti- 
ments of  the  entire  Whig  party.  Whether  in  his 
school  in  Norwich,  or  in  his  little  parsonage  at  Hatton, 


1788]  DR.  SAMUEL  PARR  357 

Parr  was  looked  upon  as  a  man  to  whose  genius  a  mis- 
guided country  had  refused  his  legitimate  reward. 

But  no  one  entertained  a  greater  opinion  of  the 
sacrifice  thus  consummated  than  did  Parr  himself.  The 
loss  of  the  bishopric  which  he  so  clearly  recognised  to 
have  been  his  due,  never  ceased  to  rankle  in  his  own 
mind  even  more  than  it  did  in  the  minds  of  his  friends. 
He  had  an  opinion  of  his  own  merits  which  nothing 
could  daunt.  The  first  time  he  saw  Fox  in  the  House, 
he  exclaimed  :  "  Had  I  followed  any  other  profession, 
I  might  have  been  sitting  by  the  side  of  that  illustrious 
statesman.  I  should  have  had  all  his  powers  of  argu- 
ment, all  Erskine's  eloquence,  and  all  Hargrave's 
law  !  "*  When  inveighing  in  a  letter  to  Coke  against 
"the  professional  neglect  and  persecution  to  which  I 
have  been  doomed  by  Courtiers,  Ministers  and  my 
Episcopal  brethren,"  he  closes  his  diatribe  with  the 
self-sufficient  conclusion:  i 'But  I  possess  that  which 
they  cannot  give  in  the  resources  of  my  mind."  And 
once  only  is  he  apparently  anxious  lest  his  pretensions 
are  unsupported  by  any  adequate  achievement,  when 
he  professes  to  explain  to  Coke  the  various  causes  of 
this  delay  in  the  completion  of  much  which  he  was 
minded  to  accomplish. 

"  The  truth  is  my  Mind  is  in  constant  action,  and 
that  one  subject  thrusts  out  another  from  my  memory. 
The  difficulty  of  getting  scribes,  the  quarrels  with 
the  Printers  and  their  Journeymen,  the  quantity  of 
outlandish  Jargon,  the  shortness  of  the  Days,  the 
weakness  of  my  Eyes,  the  want  of  skill  in  correcting 
the  Press,  and  other  causes,"  etc.  etc., 

1  Annual  Register,  1830,  p.  482. 


358  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 

constitute  the  explanation  of  his  failure  to  astonish  an 
expectant  world. 

Nevertheless  Parr,  on  account  of  his  profound  learn- 
ing, remained  the  friend  and  correspondent  of  most  of 
the  noted  men  of  his  day,  who  persistently  expected 
great  things  from  him  and  accepted  his  opinion  upon 
the  affairs  of  nations  without  a  smile  at  the  pompous 
egoism  with  which  these  were  delivered.  His  humor- 
ous, obstinate  face,  set  round  by  a  dirty  bob-wig,  his 
self-opiniated  speech,  his  eccentricities  of  speech  and 
habit  were  familiar  to  all  his  contemporaries.  So,  too, 
were  his  kindliness  of  heart,  his  ready  wit,  and  the 
laugh  which,  once  provoked,  would  break  with  irre- 
sistible heartiness  into  the  very  midst  of  his  rounded 
periods  and  bombastic  utterances — those,  it  is  said,  who 
had  once  heard  Parr's  laugh,  never  forgot  it.  Moreover, 
as  William  Taylor  of  Norwich  expressed  it,  "  There  is 
a  lovingness  of  heart  about  Parr,  a  susceptibility  of 
the  affections,  which  would  endear  him  even  without 
his  Greek  !  "  "  Have  you,"  once  wrote  Roscoe  to  Coke, 
4 'seen  our  old  friend  Dr.  Parr's  comical  letters  to  our 
other  friend  Dr.  Butler?  They  are  in  his  highest  style 
of  eccentricity.  The  strength  of  his  head  and  the  good- 
ness of  his  heart  shine  through  the  whole!"  For  Parr 
was  warm-hearted,  generous  and  noble-minded.  He 
did  good  for  the  pure  love  of  doing  good.  Through- 
out his  life  he  was  always  on  the  side  of  the  down- 
trodden and  unfortunate  ;  the  enemy  to  oppression  in 
any  form  ;  the  vehement  hater  of  tyrants  ;  the  fiery 
upholder  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  Such  qualifi- 
cations sufficiently  explain  how  he  retained  the  lifelong 
friendship  and  admiration  of  a  man  like  Coke — a  man 


1788]  DR.  SAMUEL  PARR  359 

who,  of  his  very  nature,  was  apt  to  overrate  the  merits 
of  others  as  he  was  ready  to  underrate  his  own. 

Parr's  correspondence  with  Coke,  which  has  been 
preserved  at  Holkham,  and  some  of  which  was  pub- 
lished after  his  death,  would,  in  itself,  fill  a  bulky  and 
amusing  volume  ;  it  forms  a  fairly  consecutive  com- 
ment on  political  events  for  many  years,  and  is  interest- 
ing as  an  echo — often  exaggerated — of  the  sentiments 
of  the  Whigs  upon  current  events.  Still  more,  it 
enacts  the  part  of  a  Greek  Chorus  with  regard  to  Coke's 
own  life  and  sentiments,  for  Dr.  Parr  had  a  habit  of 
reiterating  or  applauding  the  views  of  the  person  to 
whom  he  was  writing,  so  that  he  thus  supplies  a  clue  to 
Coke's  own  opinions  on  many  questions  upon  which  we 
should  otherwise  be  at  a  loss  to  trace  them.  That  the 
worthy  Doctor's  letters  are  not  without  a  strong  flavour 
of  adulation  is  undeniable,  and  the  astonishing  self- 
approbation  which  pours  from  his  pages  in  a  torrent  of 
verbosity  strikes  one  as  all  the  more  remarkable  when 
contrasted  with  the  unassuming  character  of  a  man  of 
genius  like  Fox,  or  of  a  man  of  vast  achievement  like 
Coke ;  yet  in  Parr's  very  originality  lies  the  stamp  of 
his  sincerity,  in  his  exaggerated  affections,  hatreds 
and  self-admiration  he  is  profoundly,  almost  naively 
honest ;  and  if  he  can  be  accused  of  ingratiating  him- 
self with  Coke,  from  whom  he  received  ceaseless  bene- 
fits, so,  too,  he  must  be  accredited  with  being,  himself, 
the  benefactor  of  many  who  had  no  claim  upon  him. 

For,  self-doomed  to  poverty  during  the  greater  part 
of  his  days,  Parr  was  ever  ready  to  contribute  to  those 
who  were  in  like  penurious  circumstances,  and  did  so 
with  a  liberality  out  of  all  proportion  to  his  means.  In- 


360  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 

numerable  instances  of  this  occur  in  his  letters  to  Coke, 
one  of  which  may  be  mentioned  as  typical  of  the  rest. 

It  appears  that  Coke  had  lent  the  Doctor  a  valuable 
book,  and  some  time  afterwards  received  a  letter  from 
him  in  great  distress — the  book  had  disappeared. 

"I  have  to  tell  you  a  dismal  tale,"  wrote  the 
Doctor.  "  In  a  closet  near  my  breakfast-room  six 
or  eight  shelves  are  reserved  for  the  reception  of 
books  which  I  borrow,  and  so  it  is,  from  the  con- 
venience of  the  place,  and  my  diligence,  that  I  never 
had  a  book  missing  before." 

Now  Parr  had  been  warned  that  a  young  Oxonian, 
to  whom  he  admits  he  had  been  "  not  only  a  benefactor 
but  a  protector,"  had  been  seen  in  his  absence,  to  invade 
this  private  closet  where  he  kept  his  priceless  books 
and  papers  ;  he  reproved  the  young  man,  and  thought 
so  little  of  the  occurrence  that,  the  following  autumn, 
he  gave  the  youth  employment  for  five  weeks  sorting 
numerous  precious  letters — an  onerous  task,  for  Parr 
had  over  800  letters  which  he  destined  to  go  into  his 
biography. 

"  One  morning,"  Parr  relates,  "  when  he  had  just 
left  my  house  to  go  to  Banbury  where  he  resides,  I 
stept  into  his  room  and  saw  a  large  bundle,  which 
rather  surprised  me,  as  on  that  very  morning  his 
trunk  had,  by  his  own  order,  been  put  into  the 
waggon.  I  examined  the  bundle  and  found  many  of 
my  own  private  letters  and  three  or  four  books.  I 
summoned  him  immediately.  In  the  presence  of  a 
friend  I  obtained  his  confession  to  several  stolen 
books  and  letters.  I  obtained  from  him  a  further 
acknowledgment  that  by  his  mother's  advice  he  had 
burnt  some  of  my  letters  at  his  own  house  in  Banbury, 
and  I  obtained  also  a  solemn  declaration  that  he  had 
taken  no  more." 


1788]  DR.  SAMUEL  PARR  361 

Subsequently,  it  was  discovered  that  the  pilfering  had 
been  more  extensive  than  had  been  suspected.  Coke's 
book  had  been  taken,  "and  of  the  injury  done  me  in 
my  books  and  my  engravings,  which  lay  in  his  bed- 
chamber, in  my  MSS.  and  in  my  letters  I  can  form  no 
calculation,"  Parr  adds  sadly.  Finally,  as  the  Doctor's 
indignation  overmasters  him,  we  learn  how  this  youth 
who  had  treated  him  so  scurvily  was  one  who,  with 
his  mother  and  sister,  had  been  destitute,  and  upon 
whom  Parr  had  taken  pity,  how  Parr  had  obtained  for 
him  many  subscriptions,  procured  for  him  an  advan- 
tageous scholarship  at  Pembroke  College,  Oxford, 
given  him  books — once  presenting  him  with  a  library 
to  aid  his  studies,  at  a  cost  of  £15,  how  he  had 
guaranteed  to  the  young  Oxonian  an  annual  sum  of 
£30  till  he  should  have  taken  his  degree,  and,  as  if 
this  were  not  enough,  "from  time  to  time  I  gave  him 
money,"  so  that,  "on  the  very  morning  that  he  was 
leaving  me  I  put  into  his  hands  £15." 

And  this  category  of  benefits  bestowed  by  a  poor 
man  upon  a  youth  who  had  no  claim  upon  him,  and 
who  robbed  him  while  accepting  his  charity,  is  closed 
by  Parr  with  the  unassuming  comment :  "  It  happens 
to  me  as  it  has  so  often  happened  to  yourself,  that  in- 
gratitude and  treachery  are  the  requitals  of  kindness  "  ; 
and  his  conclusion  upon  mentioning  that  his  protege 
had  since  proved  yet  more  worthless  than  had  at  first 
appeared,  is  equally  characteristic:  "  He  has  lately  been 
ordained,  and  as  he  has  no  principle  nor  good  feeling, 
he  will  make  a  truly  loyal  and  orthodox  Churchman  ; 
but  he  is  an  ingrate,  and  he  is  a  liar,  and  he  is  a 

THIEF." 


362  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 

But,  despite  his  liberality,  for  many  years  Parr's 
poverty  was  great ;  the  whole  of  his  emolument  from 
the  Church,  indeed,  up  to  an  advanced  age  was  £gs  on 
account  of  his  living  and  £iy  on  account  of  his  prebend, 
so  that  in  1795  his  friends,  to  whom  his  straitened 
circumstances  were  always  a  source  of  deep  regret,  got 
up  a  private  subscription  for  his  benefit.  To  this  Coke 
contributed  handsomely,  and  the  result  of  the  sum  thus 
collected  was  to  provide  the  Doctor  with  an  annuity  of 
£300  for  life.  Later,  in  1807,  Coke  tried  to  secure  him 
another  addition  to  his  income.  In  those  days  the 
standard  of  duty  required  from  a  clergyman  was  far 
more  elastic  than  is  the  case  at  present.  All  that  was 
considered  necessary  was  that,  in  the  parish  of  any 
living  held  by  him,  he  should  ensure  a  decent  and 
regular  performance  of  Divine  Service,  personally  or 
by  deputy  ;  and  hence  it  was  a  common  occurrence 
for  the  holder  of  a  living  to  be  a  non-resident.  Coke, 
aware  of  this,  obtained  from  his  mother,  in  whose  gift 
was  the  living  of  Buckenham,  representing  £300  a  year, 
permission  to  offer  this  to  Dr.  Parr. 

The  Doctor  wrote  back  enthusiastically,  describing 
the  wonderful  effect  which  the  good  news  had  had  on 
the  spirits  of  Mrs.  Parr,  and  how  he,  personally,  should 
"  jump  for  joy"  if  he  found  that,  by  resigning  one  of 
his  present  livings,  he  could  accept  that  of  Buckenham. 
But  Parr  was  never  called  upon  to  perform  the  gym- 
nastic feat  which  it  is  difficult  to  associate  with  his  usual 
deportment.  He  applied  to  the  Bishop  of  London  for 
leave  to  accept  Mr.  Coke's  offer,  and  relates  as  follows: 

"  When  Mr.  Coke  offered  me  the  living  of  Bucken- 
ham, in  the  diocese  of  London,  I  gave  Dr.  Prettyman 


1788]  DR.  SAMUEL  PARR  363 

to  understand  that  I  should  perhaps  resign  one  of 
my  livings  and  retain  the  other.  He  told  me  that 
if  I  took  Buckenham  /  must  reside.  The  living  was 
given  to  Mr.  Crowe,1  who  never  did  reside ',  and  at 
whose  non-residence  the  Bishop  connived.  His 
rigor  with  me  arose  from  his  dislike  to  my  sup- 
posed religious  and  my  avowed  political  tenets." 

This  episode,  however,  brought  one  great  consolation 
to  Dr.  Parr,  in  that  it  enabled  him  to  designate  Coke 
his  Patron.  Henceforward,  his  letters  to  the  latter 
usually  begin,  "My  long-tried  friend,  and  honoured 
Patron,  Mr.  Coke."  Even  his  wrath  against  his  de- 
spoilers  afforded  him  a  subtle  satisfaction.  Writing 
to  Coke  respecting  Mr.  Leigh,  of  Stoneleigh,  "  who 
although  an  hereditary  Tory,  never  mentions  Mr.  Coke 
but  in  terms  of  respect  and  kindness,"  he  adds  com- 
placently:  "  He  is  one  of  the  few  Tories  who  do  not 
wish  to  see  me  imprisoned  in  Newgate,  pilloried  at 
Charing  Cross,  hanged  in  front  of  Newgate  and  doomed 
to  everlasting  torments  in  the  flames  of  Hell!"  And  he 
draws  the  contrast  with  his  own  attitude  :  "  Under  my 
roof  Whiggism  is  established,  but  Toryism  is  tolerated, 
and  upon  the  principles  of  Whiggism  itself  we  must 
tolerate  largely !  " — a  happy  self-deception  which  the 
unwavering  fierceness  of  his  invectives  to  Coke  against 
Tory  politicians  goes  far  to  disprove. 

But  the  poverty  which  was  thus  Parr's  portion  during 
the  greater  part  of  his  life,  never  lessened  his  readiness 
to  share  his  little  with  those  whose  need  seemed  to  him 
greater  than  his  own.  And  that  liberality  which  he 
never  failed  himself  to  exercise  in  the  days  of  his 

1  A  Norfolk  man,  and  a  great  connoisseur  in  art. 


364  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 

greatest  straits,  he  as  unfailingly  expected  to  be  exer- 
cised by  his  friends.  John  Johnstone,  who  published 
his  life  in  1828,1  emphasises  how  "  Parr,  ever  ready 
himself  to  comply  with  demands  from  others,  never 
hesitated  to  beg  for  objects  he  deemed  deserving "  ; 
and  almost  every  letter  from  him  to  Coke  contains 
some  request  for  aid  to  come,  or  some  expression  of 
gratitude  for  past  aid,  for  himself,  for  his  church,  or  for 
his  friends ;  and  testifies  to  the  ceaseless  liberality 
which  Coke  showed  him — a  liberality  which,  to  Coke's 
obvious  despair,  Parr  announces  "  shall  be  properly 
recorded  in  my  parochial  books  for  the  credit  of  the 
donor,  the  instruction  of  my  parishioners  and  their 
posterity." 

The  Rev.  J.  Horseman,  Vicar  of  Royston,  a  relation 
of  Parr's  and  the  poetaster  of  current  events,  one  day 
enclosed  to  Coke  the  following  epigram  against  Dr. 
Parr,  together  with  his  answer  to  it.  Both,  no  doubt, 
present  a  faithful  portrait  of  Dr.  Parr  as  he  appeared 
to  his  foes  and  to  his  friends  : — 

RECEIPT  FOR  COMPOUNDING  A  POLITICAL  RADICAL 
DOCTOR  OF  DIVINITY,  A.S.S.,  ETC.  ETC. 

To  half  of  Bushby's  skill  in  mood  and  tense, 

Add  Bentley's  pedantry,  without  his  sense  ; 

From  Warburton  take  all  the  spleen  you  find, 

But  leave  his  genius  and  his  wit  behind  ; 

Squeeze  Churchill's  rancour  from  the  verse  it  flows  in, 

And  knead  it  well  with  Johnson's  turgid  prosing  ; 

Add  all  the  piety  of  St.  Voltaire, 

Mix  the  gross  compound — fiat  Dr.  Parr  ! 

1  The  Works  of  Dr.  Samuel  Parr,  -with  Memoirs  of  his  Life  and 
Writings,  and  a  Selection  from  his  Correspondence,  by  John  Johnstone, 
M.D.,  in  eig-ht  volumes. 


i7  8]  DR.  SAMUEL  PARR  365 

To  which  Horseman  replied  as  follows  : — 

To  more  than  Bushby's  skill  in  mood  and  tense, 
Add  Bentley's  learning  and  his  sterling-  sense  ; 
From  Warburton  take  all  the  wit  you  find, 
But  leave  his  grossness  and  his  whims  behind  ; 
Mix  Churchill's  vigour  as  in  verse  it  flows, 
And  knead  it  well  with  Johnson's  manly  prose  ; 
Sprinkle  the  whole  with  pepper  from  Voltaire, 
Strain  off  the  scum — and  fiat  Dr.  Parr ! 

William  Coke,  Coke's  nephew  and  heir-presumptive, 
was  sent  as  a  private  pupil  to  Dr.  Parr's — a  doubtful 
happiness,  for  the  Doctor  was  an  old-fashioned  discipli- 
narian, and  believed  in  flogging  for  all  offences,  and 
even  for  the  absence  of  offence.  One  exception  to  this 
practice  alone  he  made :  never  to  punish  a  stunted 
capacity,  nor  try  to  extort  from  a  mediocre  intelli- 
gence more  than  it  was  capable  of  yielding.  A  divine, 
who  was  distinguished  in  later  life,  used  to  relate  how, 
for  some  time  after  he  entered  Parr's  seminary,  he  was 
happily  classed  asa  u  Mediocre,"  and  enjoyed  the  com- 
parative amnesty  accorded  to  that  grade.  One  unlucky 
evening,  however,  the  head  assistant,  after  school 
hours,  acquainted  Parr  with  the  momentous  discovery 
that  "  From  some  recent  observations,  he  had  been  led 
to  conclude  that  .  .  .  was  a  lad  of  genius."  "  Say  you 
so?"  roared  out  Parr;  "then  let  the  flogging  begin 
to-morrow  morning  ! " 

William  Coke,  however,  was  not  of  a  nature  to  be 
afraid  even  of  the  awe-inspiring  Doctor  and  his 
pompous  Johnsonian  speech  ;  and  many  are  the 
anecdotes,  as  we  shall  see  later,  of  the  manner  in  which 
he  dared  the  redoubtable  Doctor's  wrath,  and  the  tricks 
he  performed  to  the  Doctor's  discomfort  and  to  the 
admiration  of  his  fellow-pupils. 


366  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 
But  the  correspondence  of  Dr.  Parr  with  Coke  has 
as  its  primary  subject  neither  the  delinquencies  of  his 
scholars  nor  the  affairs  of  Europe,  though  these  were 
closely  criticised  and  summarily  dealt  with  by  the 
indefatigable  Doctor.  A  matter  before  which  all  else 
palled  usually  occupied  Parr's  attention  when  writing 
to  Holkham.  The  event  of  his  life — the  annual  inci- 
dent of  paramount  importance — was  his  birthday  party, 
given  on  January  26th.  For  this  festivity  he  issued  in- 
vitations three  months  beforehand,  and  many  distin- 
guished men  from  far  and  near  were  gathered  at  his 
little  parsonage  at  Hatton  upon  the  auspicious  day. 
For  weeks  beforehand,  too,  the  toasts  to  be  given 
on  this  occasion — usually  about  eighteen  in  number — 
occupied  his  most  serious  consideration.  The  first, 
perforce,  was  always  :  "  Many  Happy  Returns  of  the 
Day"  to  himself;  the  second  comprised  a  list  of  his 
friends,  in  which  Mr.  Coke's  name  occupied  a  most 
prominent — if  not  the  first — place.  Other  toasts  varied 
according  to  the  tide  of  public  events  or  the  mood  of 
the  host ;  but  four  favourite  ones  remained  : — 

"  The  Cause  of  the  Birch  ;  and  the  Learned  Masters  of 
Eton,  Winchester,  Shrewsbury  and  Harrow." 

"  May  Servility  be  Banished  from  our  Universities, 
and  Intolerance  from  our  Church." 

"  A  Patriot  King,  and  an  Uncorrupt  Parliament." 

"May  the  Lion  of  Old  England  never  Crouch  to 
Russian  Bears  and  French  Baboons." 

And  to  this  festivity,  in  his  role  of  an  upholder 
of  tolerance,  Parr  even  condescended  to  invite  certain 
favoured  Tories.  "My  visitors,"  he  explains  to  Coke 
on  one  occasion,  "will  be  Whigs,  with  a  little  side- 


1788]  DR.  SAMUEL  PARR  367 

garnish  of  Tories  ;  and  these  Tories  will  not  contami- 
nate our  feast  because  they  will  have  good  manners, 
good  nature  and  good  morals,  such  as  justify  me 
in  summoning  them  to  my  feast  ! " 

On  the  great  day,  "  the  Master,"  we  are  told,  "  was 
in  his  glory,"  dressed  in  his  best  apparel,  his  fullest 
wig,  his  velvet  coat  and  an  impressive  scarf  ;  "the 
feast  was  sumptuous,  and  the  wines  various  "  ;  while  to 
the  success  of  this  entertainment  Coke  annually  contri- 
buted a  present  of  food,  and  annually  the  Doctor  wrote 
— anxiously  before  the  reception  of  the  gift,  enthu- 
siastically after  it — so  that  his  correspondence  hinges 
round  this,  to  him,  all-important  event  of  each  year. 

One  peculiarity  of  that  correspondence,  however,  was 
conspicuous.  From  the  haste  with  which  he  endeavoured 
to  inscribe  his  too  prolific  thoughts,  the  Doctor's  writing 
was  all  but  impossible  to  decipher,  and  this  was  ren- 
dered more  hopeless  still  by  the  fact  that  he  was  subject 
to  erysipelas  in  his  hands,  and  could  often  scarcely  hold 
his  pen.  When  this  became  literally  impracticable,  he 
was  forced  to  employ  as  his  amanuensis  Mrs.  Parr,  his 
daughters  or  his  pupils ;  occasionally,  in  fact,  em- 
ploying two  or  three  such  assistants  at  once,  since  he 
could  with  perfect  facility  dictate  no  less  than  three 
letters  at  the  same  time. 

But  he  does  not  seem  to  have  recognised  the  relief 
which  this  change  of  calligraphy  caused  to  the  recipients 
of  his  correspondence.  "  I  am  sorry,"  he  writes  naively 
to  Coke  on  one  occasion,  "  that  you  could  not  read  my 
letters  through  ;  I  hope  that  which  my  daughter  wrote 
was  legible?  " 

Of  Coke's  letters  in  reply  few  are  extant ;  and  these, 


368  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 


brief  and  practical,  form  a  remarkable  contrast  to  the 
Doctor's  sententious  utterances.  Johnstone,  Parr's 
biographer,  remarks  how  Coke's  correspondence  to 
Parr  begins  with  the  publication  of  Parr's  Sermon 
on  Education,  and  ended  only  in  January,  1825,  with 
the  last  annual  present  of  game  from  Holkham  for  the 
Doctor's  birthday  party.  Johnstone  quotes  few  of  the 
letters  from  Coke,  and  contents  himself  with  observing 
with  regard  to  the  writer  : — 

"The  consistency  maintained  in  politics  by  this 
chief  of  the  country  gentlemen  of  England,  his 
elevated  and  independent  spirit,  his  love  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty,  his  devotedness  to  the  old  English 
Constitution,  his  domestic  virtues,  his  magnificent 
hospitality  and  his  liberality,  are  all  illustrated  in  his 
correspondence;  but  I  hope  to  obtain  from  Dr.  Parr's 
letters  to  Mr.  Coke  words  and  expressions  which  will 
enable  me  to  portray  his  character."1 

Not  content  with  paying  every  tribute  to  Coke  him- 
self, however,  Parr  taught  his  scholars  to  do  likewise. 
On  one  of  those  occasions  when  circumstances  forced  him 
to  dictate — but  not  curtail — his  lengthy  correspondence, 
he  remarks:  "My  Scribe,  who  although  an  Oxonian, 
is  yet  a  Whig  (and  such  he  ought  to  be  with  the  aid  of 
my  instruction  and  the  discipline  of  my  scourge)  has 
often  joined  me  in  drinking  your  health,  and  never  fails 
to  propose  it  as  a  splendid  toast  under  his  own  roof ! " 

It  was  once  suggested  to  Dr.  Parr  that  Mr.  Coke  ought 
to  be  raised  to  the  peerage.  "Raised  to  the  peerage  ! " 
echoed  the  Doctor  indignantly,  "Sir,  Coke  of  Norfolk 
is  a  far  greater  title  than  any  that  monarchy  can  bestow !  "2 

1  Works  of  Dr.  Samuel  Parr,  by  J.  Johnstone,  Vol.  I,  p.  382. 

2  Norfolk  Tour,  Vol.  II,  p.  593. 


1788] 


CHAPTER  XVII 

POLITICAL  EVENTS 
i 788- i 792 

Mtat  34-38 

A  NOTHER  friend  of  Coke's,  of  whom  we  find 
constant  mention  in  connection  with  the 
/    %     Holkham  fete  of  1788,  was  his  old  Turin 

acquaintance,  Martin  ffolkes  Rishton. 
Settled  now  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Lynn  with  his 
pretty  wife,  formerly  Maria  Allen,  he  was  deputed  by 
Coke  to  prepare  the  list  of  guests  to  be  invited  to  the 
fete  from  that  town — a  task  which  he  performed  with 
care  and  insight.  Mr.  Rishton,  indeed,  on  all  occa- 
sions never  failed  to  take  a  keen  interest  in  Coke's 
local  well-being,  and,  being  seven  years  Coke's  senior, 
constituted  himself  a  species  of  mentor  towards  his 
friend,  dispatching  to  Holkham  long  letters  of  advice, 
admiration  and  adulation,  intermixed  with  considerable 
dry  humour.  Fanny  Burney,  speaking  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Rishton,  observes  :  "  There  is  a  remarkable  similarity 
in  their  humours,  for  he  is  as  whimsical  and  odd  as 
herself.  There  is  a  kind  of  generous  impetuosity  in 
his  disposition  which  often  lures  him  beyond  the 
bounds  which  his  cooler  judgment  would  approve."1 
And  as  in  the  case  of  Dr.  Parr  certain  characteristics 

1  The  Early  Diary  of  Frances  Burney,  Vol.  I,  p.  172. 
I.— 2  B  369 


370  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 

explain  the  root  of  Coke's  liking,  so  in  this  very 
generous  impetuosity"  of  Mr.  Rishton  we  find 
something  akin  to  Coke's  own  temperament,  and  seem 
to  read  the  keynote  of  his  constant  friendship  towards 
his  former  fellow-student.1 

Mrs.  Rishton,  on  her  part,  developed  an  enthusiastic 
admiration  for  Mrs.  Coke,  and  when  Fanny  Burney 
used  to  rave  about  her  "  dear  Mrs.  Thrale,"  Maria 
Rishton  used  to  retort  with  a  boast  about  her  "delight- 
ful Mrs.  Coke."  Yet  meetings  between  the  half- 
sisters  were  not  frequent,  and  consequently,  although 
Fanny  Burney  occasionally  visited  Mrs.  Rishton  at 
Lynn,  for  many  years  no  introduction  seems  to  have 
been  effected  between  the  lively  little  writer  and  the 
woman  of  whom  her  dear  Maria  never  ceased  to  make 
mention.  Once  Mrs.  Coke  wrote  to  entreat  Fanny, 
whom  she  knew  only  as  the  author  of  Cecilia  and 
Evelina,  to  choose  her  a  governess  "whom  she  will 
take  from  her  unseen,"  but  the  first  acquaintance 
between  the  two  women  who  had  heard  so  much  of 
each  other  did  not  take  place  until  the  year  1792, 
when,  on  November  27th,  Fanny,  on  a  visit  to 
Aylsham,  writes:  "I  have  been  also,  at  last,  intro- 
duced to  Mrs.  Coke,  and  I  think  her  one  of  the 
sweetest  women,  on  a  short  acquaintance  I  have  ever 
met  with." 

1  A  portrait  of  Mr.  Rishton  by  Barber  was  hung  by  Coke  in  the 
ante-room  to  the  manuscript  library  ;  and  in  the  Stranger  s  Guide  to 
Holkham  (1817)  we  are  told  :  "The  lively  intelligence  expressed  in  the 
countenance  of  this  picture,  renders  it  very  interesting.  Mr.  Rishton  is 
one  of  Mr.  Coke's  earliest  and  most  valued  friends,  and  a  gentleman  no 
less  distinguished  for  the  urbanity  of  his  manners  than  for  his  shining 
talents  and  general  information."  A  portrait  of  Mr.  Coke  was  painted 
by  Barber,  for  Mr.  Rishton,  and  is  reproduced  in  Vol.  II. 


1788]  POLITICAL  EVENTS  371 

Soon  after  the  Holkham  fete  Mr.  Rishton  was  again 
actively  employed  on  Coke's  behalf.  Following  upon 
the  rejoicings  of  November  5th  came  the  universal 
anxiety  occasioned  by  the  public  knowledge  of  the 
King's  illness.  Great  excitement  also  prevailed  at  the 
prospect  of  a  Whig  Ministry  coming  into  office.  At 
Bologna,  in  November,  Fox  received  an  urgent  sum- 
mons to  return  for  the  meeting  of  Parliament  on  the 
20th  of  that  month,  rendered  necessary  by  the  state  of 
the  King's  health.  While  journeying  back  to  London 
a  false  report  of  the  King's  death  reached  him,  and  he 
travelled  at  such  speed  that  he  arrived  in  town  nine 
days  after  leaving  Bologna,  so  that,  having  gone  abroad 
in  a  state  of  bad  health,  he  nearly  killed  himself  by  his 
rapid  return. 

Parliament,  convened  for  November  20th,  was  pro- 
rogued till  December  4th,  and  a  variety  of  rumours 
penetrated  to  Norfolk  from  town.  In  the  event  of  a 
General  Election  it  was  understood  that  Coke  would 
again  come  forward  for  Parliament.  Throughout  the 
county  every  preparation  was  made  by  his  partisans  to 
resist  any  effort  of  the  Tories  to  oppose  the  power  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  champion  of  the  Whigs. 

"  We  all  agree,"  a  local  correspondent1  had  written 
to  Coke  on  November  12th,  "  that  the  present  position 
of  affairs  with  regard  to  the  King's  health  does  not 
ought  to  relax  our  attention  to  the  business  we  have 
undertaken.  For  if  the  King  dies  (tho'  it  will 
certainly  lessen  your  difficulties)  yet  some  struggle 
will  be  made  to  obtain  a  powerful  Tory  opposition  in 
Parliament ;  and  if,  as  it  is  feared,  the  King  is  insane, 
it  is  not  impossible  that  the  present  daring  influence 

1  Mr.  Repton,  of  Oxmead. 


372  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 


may  contend  for  a  Regency  in  opposition  to  the 
Prince  ; — we  therefore  suppose  you  will  join  us  in 
thinking  that  no  time  should  be  lost  in  preparing  for 
a  canvass  which  may  be  suddenly  called  for." 

The  letter  concludes  with  the  piquant  information  : — 

"Mr.  Gurney  told  me  this  morning  that,  to  his 
certain  knowledge,  Sir  J.  Wodehouse  borrowed  all  the 
money,  ab*  9  thousand  pound,  which  his  Election 
cost  him  ;  if  this  circumstance  is  New  to  you,  as  it 
was  to  me,  I  hope  you  will  excuse  the  liberty  I  take  in 
mentioning  it." 

Lists  were  forthwith  prepared  stating  the  districts  and 
persons  to  be  canvassed ;  and  Windham  and  Mr. 
Rishton,  concerting  together,  were  active  on  Coke's 
behalf.  After  his  experience  of  1784,  Coke  determined 
to  stand  alone  in  the  event  of  a  contested  election,  and 
he  wrote  privately  to  Mr.  Astley  to  tell  him  how  a  con- 
junction with  Sir  Edward  "would  endanger  my  re- 
election, which  I  flatter  myself  by  standing  unconnected 
I  shall  obtain."  "From  my  heart  I  wish  for  peace," 
he  wrote  to  another  friend,  "and  shall  endeavour  all  I 
can  to  promote  it.  I  hate  trouble,  and  have  a  thousand 
ways  of  laying  out  my  money  to  my  satisfaction  [other] 
than  in  a  contested  Election,  but  the  sense  of  the  county 
whenever  the  time  comes  I  am  determined  to  try  from 
the  confidence  I  entertain  of  success." 

Coke's  partisans,  however,  viewed  with  considerable 
alarm  that  he  preserved  his  independent  attitude,  and, 
despising  the  means  usually  adopted  to  conciliate 
electors,  relied  solely  on  his  past  integrity  of  conduct 
and  upon  the  fact  that  he  need  spare  no  expense  in 
achieving  his  object.    The  advice  which  his  different 


1788] 


POLITICAL  EVENTS 


373 


friends  showered  upon  him  at  this  juncture  throws  an 

amusing  sidelight  upon  his  character. 

Mr.  Rishton  wrote  to  urge  him  to  court  popularity, 

pointing  out : — 

"  Men  in  your  elevated  situation  do  not  and  cannot 
dive  into  the  dirt  of  Electioneering  manoeuvres,  or 
understand  the  measures  to  be  pursued  like  ordinary 
men,  who  are  more  conversant  in  the  drudgery  of 
Common  Life,  and  are  more  accustomed  to  hear  and 
understand  the  opinions  of  men  in  lower  stations." 

Windham  wrote : — 

"Let  me  take  the  liberty  of  suggesting  to  you  a 
piece  of  caution,  the  want  of  which  people  pretend  to 
say  was  of  great  prejudice  to  you  at  the  last  Election 
— I  mean  the  making  any  declarations  of  your  de- 
termination not  to  be  deterred  by  expence.  It  is  all 
very  well  that  people  should  suppose  it,  but  the 
declaring  it,  while  it  is  not  necessary  to  make  it 
believed,  has  something  the  air  of  a  menace,  which 
those  who  are  not  to  profit  by  it  will  be  disposed  to 
resist.  I  would  wish  the  thing  to  be  supposed — We 
would  wish  it  to  be  in  part  true  (tho'  perhaps  not 
so  much  as  it  is),  but  I  would  not  wish  it  to  be 
declared  either  by  yourself  or  those  immediately  about 
you.  You  will  excuse,  I  know,  my  giving  you 
these  hints." 

Sir  Martin  ffolkes  wrote,  diffidently,  to  point  out 
that  it  would  be  in  Coke's  interest  to  attend  the  Thet- 
ford  Assizes,  which  apparently  he  had  not  done  for  six 
or  seven  years.    To  the  latter  Coke's  answer  is  extant : 

"I  perfectly  agree  with  you,"  he  replied  frankly, 
"that  if  I  had  paid  more  attention,  and  not  relied 
too  much  on  the  purity  of  my  political  conduct,  all 
the  expence  which  is  like  to  ensue  and  the  trouble 
I  am  now  under,  the  necessity  of  putting  myself,  too, 
to  regain  my  situation  as  a  Member  for  the  County 
would  probably  have  been  avoided.     The  success 


374  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1788 


and  flattering  support  I  have  experienced  from 
gentlemen  of  a  decidedly  different  opinion  in  political 
questions,  who  are  not  the  less  urgent  in  their  good 
wishes  than  those  who  entertain  the  same  sentiments 
I  do,  inclines  me  to  believe  that  my  own  election  is 
very  secure,  and  that  the  peace  of  the  county  may  be 
preserved  by  a  proper  understanding,  as  far  as  I  am 
able  to  form  an  opinion  ;  an  object  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  me,  who  have  no  inclination  to  throw 
away  my  money  or  put  myself  to  more  trouble  than 
is  absolutely  necessary ;  and  much  to  be  wished  for 
the  county  at  large.  The  Assizes  I  will  certainly 
attend.  .  .  .  From  the  Assizes  I  will  go  to  Hadleigh, 
where  the  hounds  are  to  give  me  the  meeting  ;  they 
will  stay  there  about  a  fortnight  before  they  return 
to  Melford  ;  which  of  the  two  is  the  finest  country 
I  can't  say,  never  having  been  to  Melford,  but  Jones 
assures  me  that  I  may  expect  to  see  very  good  sport." 

With  the  approach  of  winter  Coke  usually  went  to 
Suffolk  for  hunting,  and  annually  gave  a  celebrated 
hunting  breakfast  at  Castle  Hedingham.  "A  new 
toast  to  be  drunk  every  day  after  dinner  at  the  Fox- 
hunters'  Club  in  Suffolk,"  Mr.  Rishton  now  informed 
him,  "  is — 1  Good  Friends  in  Norfolk  and  good  Foxes  in 
Suffolk  ! ' "  but  though,  for  a  time,  the  Norfolk  friends 
had  claimed  Coke's  attention,  the  foxes  were  destined 
not  to  be  abandoned.  To  Melford  Coke  went,  and 
apparently  found  satisfactory  sport,  for  we  find  him 
writing  from  there  again  the  following  winter.  The 
anticipated  Dissolution  was  indefinitely  deferred.  On 
December  13th,  1788,  a  heated  debate  on  the  Regency 
question  took  place,  and  the  bill  was  brought  into 
Parliament  the  following  February  3rd,  but  a  fort- 
night afterwards,  the  recovery  of  George  III  from  his 
illness  put  a  temporary  end  to  the  dissensions  thereby 


1788]  POLITICAL  EVENTS  375 

involved,  and  to  the  immediate  prospect  of  a  Whig 
Ministry. 

Coke  used  to  relate  the  following  story  connected 
with  this  period.  With  the  recovery  of  the  King's 
reason,  Queen  Charlotte  showed  herself  in  a  peculiarly 
unamiable  light  towards  her  sons.  During  the  King's 
illness  the  struggle  for  supremacy  between  her  and  the 
Prince  of  Wales  had  roused  bitter  animosity  on  both 
sides,  and  the  Duke  of  York,  siding  with  his  brother, 
came  in  for  a  full  share  of  the  Queen's  displeasure. 
Although  the  King  was  still  weak  in  mind  and  body, 
and  all  agitation  should  have  been  carefully  avoided, 
the  Queen  never  ceased  endeavouring  to  sow  the  seeds 
of  discord  between  him  and  his  sons,  by  relating  stories 
of  their  misconduct  during  the  struggle  for  the  Re- 
gency. Moreover,  all  those  who  quarrelled  with  the 
Prince  she  openly  befriended. 

Colonel  Lennox,  afterwards  Duke  of  Richmond, 
whose  mother  held  a  place  in  the  royal  household, 
constituted  himself  the  Queen's  champion,  and  went 
about  publicly  abusing  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  the 
Duke  of  York.  The  royal  brothers  were  indignant  at 
his  impertinence ;  a  quarrel  was  picked  upon  some 
trifling  pretext,  and  Lennox  sent  a  challenge  to  the 
Duke  of  York,  which  the  latter  accepted.  It  was 
arranged  that  the  duel  should  be  fought  on  Wimbledon 
Common  ;  but  when  the  time  came,  although  Lennox 
fired  and  grazed  the  Duke's  ear,  the  Duke  haughtily 
declined  to  return  the  shot,  and  the  combat  came  to  an 
ignominious  end.  The  Prince  of  Wales,  furious  at  the 
whole  affair,  went  down  to  Windsor  afterwards,  deter- 
mined to  tell  the  King  what  had  occurred,  and  which 


376  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1789 

he  considered  had  been  instigated  by  the  Queen.  The 
King,  who  was  devoted  to  the  Duke  of  York,  became 
greatly  agitated  on  hearing  of  the  danger  to  which  his 
favourite  son  had  been  exposed,  but  the  Queen  pro- 
nounced coldly  that  "  It  was  all  the  Duke's  own  fault." 
The  Prince  told  Coke  afterwards  how,  that  same  even- 
ing, when  his  mother  espied  Colonel  Lennox  in  one  of 
the  Court  circles,  she  made  a  point  of  going  up  to  him 
before  everybody,  in  the  most  marked  manner  offered 
him  her  hand  on  first  addressing  him,  and  was  singu- 
larly gracious  to  the  man  who,  that  very  day,  had  nearly 
shot  her  son.1 

In  July  of  the  year  1789,  the  news  reached  Norwich 
of  the  fall  of  the  Bastille.  The  grievances  of  the 
French  peasantry,  and  the  boldness  with  which  they 
had  taken  the  law  into  their  own  hands,  roused  the 
sympathies  and  stirred  the  enthusiasm  of  all  lovers  of 
freedom.  The  greatest  excitement  prevailed,  and  dur- 
ing the  public  rejoicings  which  ensued,  even  the  most 
sedate  amongst  the  Norwich  residents  became  demoral- 
ised. "  Don't  I  remember,"  afterwards  remarked  the 
daughter  of  one  of  those  citizens  to  the  descendant  of 
another,  "  your  glorious  grandmother  dancing  round 
the  Tree  of  Liberty  at  Norwich  with  Dr.  Parr  !  " 2 

In  the  following  October  Windham  formed  one  of  a 
party  at  Holkham  which  included  Fox  and  James 
Dutton.  "  There  were  others,"  he  relates,  "  whom  I 
had  not  known  of  before;  Captain  Roberts,  a  relation 
of  Coke's,  who  had  served  a  great  deal  in  America,  and 

1  Related  by  Coke  also  to  Richard  Rush,  1819.  (See  Residence  at  the 
Court  of  London,  by  Richard  Rush  (1833),  p.  188.) 

2  Three  Generatioyis  of  Englishwomen,  by  Janet  Ross  (1888),  Vol.  I,  p.  8. 


1789]  POLITICAL  EVENTS  377 

afterwards  Rishton,  etc."  The  next  month  he  again 
visited  Holkham,  and  on  November  30th  he  states  how 
he  was  aroused  at  Felbrigg,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, by  a  messenger  from  Norwich,  who  informed  him 
of  Coke's  intention  to  canvass  that  town  the  next  day.1 
But  still  the  Dissolution  was  postponed,  and  while 
awaiting  the  delayed  summons  to  Parliament,  Coke 
became  occupied  with  a  work  apart  from  politics  or 
agriculture. 

For  some  time  past  Dungeness  lighthouse  had  been 
in  a  deplorable  condition.  It  was  impossible  to  get  the 
Government  to  act  in  the  matter.  Coke  therefore  pur- 
chased Dungeness,  and  also  Harwich  lighthouse,  from 
the  Government  on  lease,  and,  both  thus  becoming  his 
private  property  for  a  term  of  years,  he  promptly  re- 
built Dungeness  at  his  own  expense,  so  that  from 
having  been  the  worst  upon  the  coast  it  became  the 
best.  In  1790  he  reopened  this  fresh  lighthouse,  and 
an  inscription  was  placed  upon  it  recording  the  event. 
The  new  erection  was  built  of  wood  covered  over  with 
sheet-iron  ;  and,  probably  for  this  reason,  was  eventu- 
ally destroyed  by  lightning  ;  but,  before  that  day,  we 
shall  again  have  occasion  to  refer  to  it,  and  to  the  un- 
foreseen chain  of  events  connected  with  Coke's  action 
in  this  matter. 

On  June  12th,  1790,  the  long-delayed  Dissolution  at 
last  took  place,  and  on  June  28th  Coke  again  entered 
Parliament,  in  company  with  his  former  rival  Wode- 
house.  As  on  his  first  entry  he  had  found  the  House 
agitated  by  the  fierce  emotions  and  the  hopeless 
divergence  of  opinion  called  forth  by  the  American 

1  Windham's  Diary,  ed.  by  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Baring,  p.  109. 


378  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1790 

struggle  for  independence,  so  now  those  same  emotions 
were  renewed — if  not  surpassed — by  another  struggle 
which,  in  its  infancy,  seemed  even  more  justifiable  and 
more  imperative  than  the  first. 

The  eyes  of  all  Europe  were  now  directed  towards 
France,  where  the  masses,  starved,  down-trodden  and 
enslaved,  had  finally  asserted  themselves  in  a  desperate 
effort  to  better  their  condition.  It  was  impossible  not 
to  realise  their  justification  in  the  present,  as  it  was  all 
but  impossible  to  foresee  the  unjustifiable  lawlessness 
and  brutality  to  which  they  would  give  rein  in  the 
future.  Burke  alone,  the  prophet  of  ill-omen  as  he 
was  considered  by  the  adherents  of  Fox,  denounced 
the  rise,  and  predicted  the  progress  of  the  Revolution  ; 
and  his  utterances  gave  birth  to  a  diversity  of  opinion 
among  the  Whigs  which  threatened  to  separate  their 
forces  and  to  create  an  open  schism. 

Before  this  took  place,  there  occurred,  on  April  17th, 
1790,  in  Windham's  Diary  the  following  amicable 
entry  : — 

"  Went  at  six  to  dine  with  Coke.  I  sat  next  to 
Burke,  with  Fox  next  to  him,  and  had  a  tolerable 
share  of  conversation,  the  principal  subjects  of  which 
were  Bruce ;  the  conduct  of  the  Judges  on  the  Im- 
peachment ;  Dunning ;  farming  ;  architecture  and 
painting."1 

A  peaceable  conversation,  apparently,  which  cau- 
tiously avoided  the  burning  topic  of  the  day.  But  in 
the  October  following,  Burke  published  the  Reflections 
on  the  French  Revolution,  which  brought  fuel  to  the 
smouldering  flame.    Thirty  thousand  copies  were  sold, 

1  Windham  s  Diary  >  p.  197. 


i79o]  POLITICAL  EVENTS  379 

and  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  received  with  sym- 
pathy by  the  majority  of  Englishmen,  whose  opinions 
were  divided,  not  only  upon  the  subject  of  the  French 
Revolution  itself,  but  on  the  increasing  prospect  of 
a  war  between  England  and  France. 

In  order  to  understand  the  light  in  which  Coke 
viewed  this  question,  it  is  necessary  to  realise  the  posi- 
tion of  England  at  this  date.  After  long  smarting 
from  the  effects  of  a  disastrous  campaign — a  campaign 
from  which  she  had  emerged  crippled  in  wealth,  in 
prestige,  and  with  an  irreparable  loss  of  valuable  lives, 
England  was  just  entering  upon  a  fresh  era  of  pros- 
perity. Her  wounds  were  healing,  her  prospects  were 
fair.  Her  self-respect  was  becoming  reinstated,  she 
was  regaining  her  ascendancy  among  the  nations  of  the 
world,  her  resources  were  increasing,  and  there  was 
every  hope  that  her  renewed  riches  would  enable  her  to 
pay  off  some  of  her  national  encumbrances.  "  In  fine," 
as  one  of  Coke's  correspondents  remarked,  i  '  the 
pinnacle  of  our  greatness  seemed  placed  on  a  base 
which  nothing  but  our  own  folly  could  undermine." 

And  all  this  slowly  acquired  advantage  was  to  be 
risked,  and  England's  prosperity  irretrievably  wrecked 
in  the  mad  endeavour  to  exert  an  arbitrary  interference 
with  the  affairs  of  a  nation  by  whom  our  safety  was  not 
at  present  endangered,  since  France,  absorbed  in  inter- 
nal strife,  was  not  in  a  position  to  originate  acts  of 
aggression  towards  her  neighbours. 

Still  more,  it  was  held,  such  an  unprovoked  attempt 
to  crush — not  control — France's  struggle  for  freedom 
came  peculiarly  ill  from  England,  the  professed  friend 
of  liberty.    France  had  broken  her  bonds  asunder,  and, 


380  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1790 

mad  with  the  licentiousness  of  newly  acquired  freedom, 
was  given  over  to  a  period  of  delirium  which  inter- 
ference could  only  goad,  not  check.  While  the  object 
of  her  struggle  called  forth  Coke's  warmest  sympathies, 
no  one  viewed  with  greater  abhorrence  the  lawless 
means  by  which  she  strove  to  attain  that  object.  But 
any  attempt  at  coercion  on  the  part  of  England,  he 
was  convinced,  could  only  serve  to  prolong  the  horrors 
of  the  Revolution,  while  retarding  the  issue  of  which 
those  horrors  were  the  birth-throes.  It  should  have 
been  England's  policy  to  stand  on  guard,  not  to  assail. 
"  Our  power  made  us  the  arbiters  of  nations,  and  even 
France  herself  might  have  been  restrained  in  her  mad- 
ness and  half  her  enormities  prevented,  had  we  been 
wise."  England's  policy  of  interference  appeared  to 
him  to  be  that  of  a  man  who,  seeing  two  dogs  fighting, 
rushes  in  and  belabours  them  indiscriminately  with  a 
whip,  thus  increasing  their  blind  fury  ;  and  since  all 
war  not  resorted  to  from  dire  necessity  he  held  to 
be  iniquitous,  his  natural  antipathy  to  bloodshed  was, 
if  possible,  intensified  at  this  crisis.  "I  have  always 
hated  war,"  he  said  as  an  old  man  ;  "  rivers  of  blood 
were  never  congenial  to  my  feelings  !  "x 

Meanwhile,  this  question  of  impending  hostilities 
with  France  affected  every  other  measure  which  could 
be  brought  before  Parliament.  It  involved  opposition 
to  reform,  extravagant  subsidies,  enormous  loans.  It 
produced  a  further  chasm  in  the  Whig  party,  already 
divided  in  opinion  with  regard  to  the  nature  and  the 
issue  of  the  Revolution  itself.  Pitt,  accredited  by  the 
Whigs  with  manoeuvring  for  war,  at  present  preserved 

1  Speech,  August  7th,  1830. 


i79i]  POLITICAL  EVENTS  381 

an  attitude  of  neutrality  ;  but  in  1791,  as  events  tended 
more  and  more  towards  hostilities,  the  rupture  between 
the  Whigs  became  more  emphasised,  and  the  con- 
viction that  Pitt  was  secretly  determined  upon  war 
gained  ground. 

"I  shall  at  all  times,"  wrote  Dr.  Parr  to  Coke, 
' 'look  upon  such  a  coalition  as  this  between  Mr. 
Pitt  and  our  friends  with  a  jealous  mind,  nor  have  I 
the  smallest  doubt  that  some  day  or  other  he  will 
turn  it  to  account  against  those  who  are  not  only  re- 
peating his  avowed  language,  but  forwarding  his 
unseen  purpose." 

Windham,  infatuated  by  the  influence  of  Burke,  was 
fast  drifting  away  from  his  former  politics  and  former 
friends.  On  January  17th,  1791,  he  wrote  again  in  his 
diary  : — 

"  Dined  with  Coke  ;  present,  Fox,  Burke,  Duke  of 
Portland,  Lord  Fitzwilliam,  Grey,  Fawkner,  Mr. 
Anson,  Lord  North,  Lord  Tichfield,  Lord  Petre."1 

And  this  entry  has  a  special  interest,  for  it  was  probably 
the  last  occasion  when  Windham,  Fox,  Burke  and 
Coke  all  dined  together  as  friends.  Although  Wind- 
ham continued  to  visit  at  Holkham  until  1792,  in  the 
political  world  he  openly  severed  himself  from  his 
former  party  ;  and  on  May  6th  following  occurred  the 
famous  breach  between  Fox  and  Burke  on  the  subject 
of  the  Revolution,  when  Burke,  like  Windham,  was 
ranked  with  the  Ministerialists. 

Thenceforward  all  friendship  between  Burke  and 
Coke  appears  to  have  ceased  ;  but  on  three  occasions 
was  a  futile  attempt  made  to  renew  the  friendly  relations 

1  Windham's  Diary,  p.  219. 


382  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1791 
between  Burke  and  Fox.  The  first  attempt  was  under- 
taken by  Burke  himself,  whether  voluntarily  or  em- 
ployed against  his  inclination  is  not  recorded,  but  in  a 
manner  which  Fox,  of  all  men,  was  not  likely  to  accept. 

Burke  wrote  to  Fox  saying  that  he  hoped  their 
"  political  differences  would  not  extinguish  their  mutual 
friendship,"  and,  to  this  overture,  Fox  replied  amicably 
that  he  was  leaving  St.  Ann's  the  next  day,  in  order  to 
pay  a  visit  to  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  and  he  wished  that 
Burke  would  come  to  see  him  there. 

Burke  accordingly  went  to  the  Duke's,  accompanied 
by  Powis,  and  after  a  friendly  conversation  on  the 
crisis,  he  suddenly  offered  Fox  the  Secretaryship  for 
Foreign  Affairs — "with  such  emoluments  as  he  should 
prescribe."  The  other  appointments  which  he  said  he 
proposed  were :  Sheridan  as  Under-Secretary,  with 
£2000  per  annum  ;  for  Grey,  either  the  War  or  Pay- 
master Office;  and  for  Bedford  "  Ireland,  with  the 
whole  Patronage  thereof." 

Fox  smiled  at  this  information,  and  pointed  out  that 
he  could  not  understand  how  such  a  proposal  could  be 
made,  as  his  new  friends  must  know  that  he  was 
pledged  to  give  "all  his  opposition  to  the  system 
which  had  so  long  prevailed." 

Powis  thereupon  attempted  to  cajole  him.  Fox,  he 
said,  must  not  consider  himself  as  belonging  to  him- 
self ;  his  great  abilities  belonged  to  the  public  who,  at 
this  awful  season,  had  a  right  to  their  utmost  exertions. 
Fox  quietly  remarked  that  he  was  afraid  he  should  keep 
some  very  worthy  gentlemen  waiting  for  their  dinner  at 
St.  Ann's  if  he  did  not  start  for  home  immediately ;  and 
he  promptly  wished  the  pair  "  Good  morning." 


1792]  POLITICAL  EVENTS  383 

He  told  this  story  to  Coke,  who  happened  to  relate  it 
when  dining  at  Lord  Suffolk's  in  1796.  Lord  Charle- 
mont,  commenting  on  it  afterwards  to  a  correspondent 
who  had  repeated  it  to  him,  says  : — 

"The  conversation  between  Fox  and  Burke  is  cer- 
tainly curious  and  not  unlikely  to  have  happened 
exactly  as  it  was  related  to  you.  That  overtures  have 
been  made  I  have  little  doubt,  though  the  choice  of 
Burke  as  a  negotiator  seems  most  whimsical  and  not 
a  very  wise  one  ;  yet  there  is  no  reason  why  the  fact 
should  not  be  precisely  true,  and  there  can  be  no 
better  authority  than  Mr.  Coke  of  Norfolk."1 

Not  long  afterwards,  a  common  friend,  Lord  Petre, 
determined  to  afford  the  former  allies  an  opportunity  of 
reconciliation,  and  to  this  end  he  prepared  a  contrivance 
by  which  he  hoped  to  turn  their  difference  of  opinion 
into  a  jest.  He  invited  both  statesmen  to  dinner,  and 
upon  entering  the  dining-room  they  perceived,  in  the 
centre  of  the  table,  a  wonderful  piece  of  confectionery 
fashioned  in  a  model  of  the  Bastille.  As  soon  as  dessert 
was  put  upon  the  table  Lord  Petre  turned  to  Burke. 

"Come,  Burke,"  he  said,  "attack  that  Bastille!" 
Burke  gravely  declined.  "Well,  Fox,"  pursued  his 
lordship,  "do  you  do  it."  "That  I  will,  by  God!" 
cried  Fox  heartily,  and  instantly  dashing  at  the  elabo- 
rate confectionery  he  demolished  it  with  all  the  hilarity 
of  a  boy.2 

One  last  attempt  was  made  by  Fox  to  heal  the 

1  Historical  Manuscripts  Commission,  Vol  II,  p.  179  ;  (Charlemont  to 
Halliday),  Thirteenth  Report,  Part  VIII,  p.  283. 

2  Memoir,  Journal  and  Correspondence  of  T.  Moore,  edited  by  Lord 
John  Russell,  M.P.,  Vol.  V,  p.  281.  Credat  judceus,  comments  Tom  Moore, 
somewhat  absurdly,  with  regard  to  this  story.  As  Coke  was  present  at 
the  dinner,  and  Tom  Moore  was  not,  the  authority  of  the  former  appears 
the  more  reliable. 


384  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1792 
breach.  When  Burke  was  dying  Fox  went  to  see  him, 
but  Burke  refused  the  interview.  On  Fox's  return 
Coke  was  lamenting  Burke's  obstinacy. 

"Oh,"  replied  Fox  philosophically,  "never  mind, 
Tom  ;  I  always  find  every  Irishman  has  got  a  piece  of 
potato  in  his  head  !  "* 

Yet  Fox  was  perfectly  ready  to  acknowledge  when 
Burke's  judgment  had  been  more  accurate  than  his 
own.  Speaking  once  of  Burke's  book  which  he  had 
opposed  so  violently,  Fox  said  cheerfully — 

"Well,  Burke  is  right — but  Burke  is  often  right, 
only  he  is  right  too  soon  !  "2 

In  1792  the  great  severance  between  the  leading 
Whigs  reached  its  culminating  point.  In  the  spring 
of  that  year  was  established  the  Society  of  "Friends 
of  the  People,"  for  the  express  purpose  of  advancing 
Parliamentary  Reform,  but  which  was  accredited  with 
revolutionary  tendencies.  Its  list  included  twenty- 
eight  Members  of  Parliament,  and  such  names  as 
Lord  John  Russell,  Grey,  Sheridan  and  Erskine  ;  but 
both  Fox  and  Coke,  from  different  motives,  refused  to 
belong  to  it.  For  this  Fox  was  greatly  blamed  by  his 
party  ;  he  was  accused  of  apathy  towards  Reform,  and, 
indeed,  at  this  date  he  was  secretly  unconvinced  re- 
specting the  advisability  of  that  measure.  But  Coke, 
who  from  the  first  was  its  ardent  advocate,  caused  yet 
greater  surprise  to  his  friends  by  his  firm  refusal  to 
join  a  society  formed  in  harmony  with  his  well-known 
opinions.    His  motive,  however,  is  not  far  to  seek. 

1  Hay  don  s  Journals  a?id  Correspondence,  Vol.  II,  p.  373. 

2  Diary  and  Letters  of  Madame  dArblay,  edited  by  her  niece,  1842, 
Vol.  V,  p.  316. 


4 

i79i]  POLITICAL  EVENTS  3^5 

Since  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  bond  or  pledge  was 
obnoxious  to  him,  to  join  such  a  society  was  to  bind 
himself  to  principles  with  regard  to  which,  if  his  loyalty 
could  not  survive  without  a  pledge,  it  degenerated  into 
mere  cowardice.  He  regarded  with  silent  contempt  all 
whose  integrity  required  thus  cementing. 

Meanwhile,  amidst  the  anxiety  with  regard  to  affairs 
on  the  Continent,  the  state  of  political  feeling  at  home 
was  calculated  to  cause  alarm.  The  revolutionary  spirit 
which  was  running  riot  in  France  proved  infectious, 
and  the  disaffected  amongst  the  lower  orders  in  Eng- 
land appeared  disposed  to  adopt  violent  measures  in 
dealing  with  their  grievances.  In  1791  Paine1  had 
published  the  first  part  of  The  Rights  of  Man,  which 
assisted  in  rousing  the  feeling  of  all  classes  to  a  dan- 
gerous pitch  of  excitement,  and  which  filled  the  Govern- 
ment with  alarm  at  the  progress  of  opinions  calculated, 
they  feared,  to  undermine  all  law  and  order.  These 
feelings  were  further  intensified  by  a  Royal  Proclama- 
tion issued  on  May  21st,  1792,  warning  the  people 
against  seditious  writings,  assemblies,  etc.,  and  repre- 
senting in  strong  colours  the  dangers  to  which  the 
nation  was  exposed. 

It  is  possible  to  create  evils  by  suggestion  ;  and  in 
laying  stress  on  dangers  which  were  as  yet  potential, 
the  Government  was  no  doubt  giving  them  a  solidity 
in  the  minds  of  the  people  which  they  might  otherwise 
never  have  possessed.  Coke  was  convinced  that  such 
a  measure  at  such  a  juncture  was  both  impolitic  and 
tactless  on  the  part  of  Pitt,  and  that  Parliament 

1  Thomas  Paine,  a  Norfolk  man,  Deist  and  Radical  (1737-1809),  son  of 
an  ex-Quaker  stay-maker. 

I.— 2  C 


386  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1792 

should  have  rested  on  its  own  strength  without 
making  any  appeal  to  the  people.  ' 'And  there  was 
a  time,"  supplemented  Doctor  Parr  sadly,  "when  Mr. 
Windham  more  than  almost  any  other  man  was  distin- 
guished by  this  solid  and  dignified  way  of  thinking  !  " 
But  now  Windham,  in  his  new  role  as  the  ally  of  the 
Minister,  strongly  advocated  the  policy  of  the  alarmists. 

Soon  afterwards,  an  address  was  moved  in  Parlia- 
ment to  thank  the  King  for  the  Proclamation,  and  this 
occasion  may  be  regarded  as  the  exact  point  at  which 
the  new  division  of  parties  sprang  prominently  into 
view,  for  it  was  supported  by  many  of  the  leading 
Whigs.  The  Duke  of  Portland,  Lord  Fitzwilliam, 
Windham,  and  Lords  John  and  William  Russell, 
brothers  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  openly  avowed  them- 
selves adherents  of  Pitt's  policy ;  while  among  those 
who  remained  faithful  to  Fox  were  Grey,  Sheridan, 
Erskine,  Samuel  Whitbread,  and  "with  them,"  writes 
Lord  John  Russell,  "sat  Mr.  Coke  and  Mr.  Lambton,1 
two  of  the  richest  of  the  county  gentlemen."2 

The  advocates  of  Pitt's  policy  in  Norwich,  therefore, 
held  a  meeting  approving  the  address.  This  was 
supported  by  Windham  the  Apostate,  Mr.  Buxton 
and  Charles  Townshend.  None  but  those  who  were  in 
favour  of  the  Proclamation  attended  the  meeting,  with 
the  exception  of  Coke,  who  characteristically  opposed 
it  unsupported,  although,  naturally,  with  no  hope  of 
success  against  such  overwhelming  odds. 

"I  attended  the  meeting,"  he  wrote  to  Dr.  Parr, 
"not  with  any  hope  of  opposing  an  Address  on  the 

1  Afterwards  Lord  Durham. 

2  Life  and  Times  of  C.  J.  Fox,  by  Lord  John  Russell  (1859-66), 
Vol.  II,  p.  321. 


1792]  POLITICAL  EVENTS  387 

Proclamation,  but  thereby  to  express  my  disapproba- 
tion of  a  measure  which  I  deem  calculated  to  spread 
a  general  alarm  without  any  reasonable  cause  for 
fear,  and  to  rouse  our  friends  ;  in  which  objects  our 
artful  Minister  has,  I  fear,  succeeded  but  too  well. 

"  Windham  spoke  well,  I  only  wish  it  had  been  in 
a  better  cause ;  but  I  must  confess,  I  do  not  feel 
myself  impressed  with  those  terrors  of  impending 
evil  with  which  he  said  his  mind  was  filled,  and 
I  went  so  far  as  to  whisper  to  him  that  I  thought 
a  time  would  come  when  he  would  find  the  storm 
would  burst  from  another  quarter,  and  that  he  would 
feel  himself  under  the  necessity  of  holding  different 
language,  for  that  the  executive  power  appeared  to 
me  to  be  gaining  strength  daily,  which  afforded  just 
offence  to  us  of  the  Commons,  tho'  I  so  far  agreed 
with  him  that  this  was  not  the  moment  to  attempt 
Reform.  As  none  but  Addressers  attended  the 
meeting,  but  myself,  I  was  the  only  individual  present 
who  did  not  sign  the  Address." 

"  Bustle  there  is  !  "  responded  Dr.  Parr,  "  but  I  can 
assure  our  friend  Mr.  Windham  that,  even  in  this  land 
of  Toryism  where  I  live,  no  man  seems  to  have  any 
real  fears."  He  implored  Coke  to  exert  his  influence 
to  turn  Windham  from  such  evil  ways,  since  already  in 
London  bets  were  afloat  for  and  against  the  Apostate's 
prospects  at  the  next  Norwich  election. 

Perhaps  in  consequence  of  this  suggestion,  two  days 
after  the  meeting  at  Norwich,  on  July  3rd,  Coke  rode 
over  to  Felbrigg,  doubtless  to  reason  warmly  with  the 
Apostate  upon  his  attitude  of  antagonism  towards  his 
former  political  party.  Curiously  enough,  Windham 
in  his  diary  explains  that  this  was  the  first  time  during 
his  own  residence  at  Felbrigg  that  his  friend  Coke  had 
ever  been  inside  the  house.  Coke  stayed  to  dine,  but, 
possibly  in  consequence  of  himself  and  his  host  failing 


388  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1792 

to  agree,  refused  to  stay  the  night  and  rode  back  again 
twenty-five  miles  to  Holkham. 

Fox,  however,  still  endeavoured  to  treat  the  situation 
philosophically.  "It  is  lucky,"  he  pronounced  to  Coke, 
"for  both  Burke  and  Windham  that  they  take  the 
royal  side  on  the  subject  of  the  French  Revolution,  for 
they  would  certainly  have  been  hanged  on  any  other!"1 

Still  the  question  of  a  war  with  France  hung  in 
abeyance  ;  but  events  drew  rapidly  to  the  conclusion 
which  the  adherents  of  Fox  deplored.  Parliament  was 
summoned  to  an  Autumnal  Session,  and,  in  the 
Commons,  Fox's  following  diminished  from  about 
160  to  50,  while  in  the  Lords  he  had  but  ten  or  twelve 
adherents  left.  Next,  the  unsettled  state  of  affairs,  the 
seditious  conduct  of  the  revolutionary  societies  in 
England,  and  the  increasing  tendency  to  riot,  made 
Pitt  decide  to  call  out  the  militia  on  December  1st. 
His  legal  excuse  for  this  measure  was  alleged  insurrec- 
tion amongst  the  lower  orders  ;  but  it  was  suspected 
that  he  had  made  up  his  mind,  not  only  for  repression 
in  England,  but  for  war  abroad. 

Coke  remained  at  Holkham,  having  good  sport  in  the 
coverts,  especially  with  woodcock,  presents  of  which  he 
constantly  sent  to  Fox.  Meanwhile  his  friends  kept  him 
informed  of  the  course  of  events  ;  and  two  letters  which 
he  received  at  this  date  show  the  light  in  which  current 
affairs  were  regarded  by  members  of  opposing  factions. 

The  first  is  from  Roger  Wilbraham,  m.p.  and  f.r.s.,2 
who  was  a  lifelong  friend  of  Coke's.    He  had  a  house 

1  Moore's  Life  of  Sheridan,  Vol.  II,  p.  129. 

2  Son  of  Roger  Wilbraham,  of  Nantwich,  by  his  second  wife,  Mary, 
daughter  of  Thomas  Hunt,  of  Mollington,  and  great-nephew  of  Henry, 
third  Earl  of  Radnor. 


ROGAR  WILBRAHAM,   M.  P. 


1792]  POLITICAL  EVENTS  389 

at  Twickenham,  surrounded  by  a  garden  which  became 
celebrated  for  its  beautiful  flowers.  He  was  a  great 
scholar  and  a  great  gardener,  a  politician,  an  agricul- 
turist and,  withal,  a  philosopher.  He  was  Coke's 
consultant  in  the  purchase  of  many  valuable  MSS.  ; 
and  a  clump  of  trees  in  the  park  at  Holkham  is  still 
named  after  him. 

Roger  Wilbraham  to  Thomas  William  Coke. 

"  Dear  Coke,  "  LoNDON>  ^th  December,  1792. 

"  I  see  no  occasion  for  your  coming  to  Town, 
but  will  learn  more  before  I  close  up  my  letter.  The 
mischief  is  done  and  I  fear  is  a  very  great  one.  I  do 
not  know  that  the  D.  of  P.  has  behaved  in  a  manner 
at  all  culpable.  In  a  conversation  I  had  with  him  he 
highly  blamed  the  Ministry  for  spreading  what  he 
thought  a  groundless  alarm  by  calling  out  the 
Militia ;  among  the  fifty  minority  were  Lord  E. 
Bentinck,  young  Lord  George  Cavendish,  two  Lord 
Russels,  H.  Howard,  Lord  Milton,  etc.  ;  so  that,  at 
least,  Mr.  Fox  was  in  appearance  supported  by  the 
principal  Whig  aristocracy  of  this  country.  We 
have  probably  by  our  conduct  irritated  these  mad 
and  victorious  Quixotes  of  a  Liberty,  the  principles 
of  which  they  do  not  practise ;  and  may  involve 
this  country  in  a  war  which  possibly  might  have 
been  avoided.  They  have  at  present  an  established 
Government,  why  not  acknowledge  it?  it  must  be 
done  sooner  or  later,  and  the  acknowledging  of  it 
might  be  very  advantageous  to  this  country. 

44  Adieu,  my  dear  Coke,  remember  me  with  great 
kindness  and  respect  to  the  ladies,  and  believe  me 
most  sincerely  yours.  "  R.  W. 

"  If  anything  occurs  worth  communicating,  I  shall 
give  you  another  line. 
"  3  o'clock. 

"  I  have  just  now  been  talking  to  Fox  ;  he  does 


39Q  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1792 


not  see  any  immediate  necessity  for  your  leaving 
Holkham — we  shall  probably  divide  no  more  before 
the  Holy  Days,  and  certainly  not  on  Fox's  motion 
of  this  day  to  acknowledge  the  Republic  of  France. 
I  asked  him  if  he  should  be  down  in  Norfolk  about 
Xmas  ;  he  feared  not,  from  the  probable  shortness  of 
the  recess  ;  but  on  my  telling  him  that  an  acquaintance 
told  me  he  had  heard  from  Mr.  Pitt  that  Parliament 
would  probably  adjourn  on  Xmas  Eve,  and  that  he 
did  not  see  any  reason  why  they  should  not  adjourn 
to  near  the  Birthday,  he  replied,  '  In  that  case  I  may 
very  probably  go  down." 

Six  days  later,  Coke's  other  correspondent  wrote 
gloomily — 

Extract  from  a  letter  from  William  Windham 
to  T.  W.  Coke. 

"  Dear  Coke, 

"You  will  have  seen  in  general  by  the  papers 
the  progress  of  our  proceedings,  and  theyare  certainly 
not  such  as  to  have  given  you  much  satisfaction.  My 
hope  was  to  have  found  that  the  opinions  of  our 
friends,  when  they  came  to  be  explained,  approached 
near  enough  to  each  other  to  have  admitted  of  some 
course  of  proceeding,  or  of  some  declaration  in  which 
we  might  all  have  agreed  ;  but  after  the  best  deter- 
mination that  I  can  foresee  of  our  respective  senti- 
ments, that  hope,  I  confess,  is  reduced  almost  to 
nothing. 

"The  fact  is  that  Fox's  mind  and  affections  are  so 
given  to  this  French  Revolution ;  he  is  so  little  inclined 
to  see  any  ill  in  it,  and  so  much  disposed  to  hope  good ; 
he  views  with  so  little  apprehension  the  chance  of 
effects  which  it  may  produce  here,  and  has  such  a 
dread  that  by  decrying  the  French,  we  are  to  injure 
the  English  Constitution,  that  I  do  not  see  in  the 
actual  state  of  things  what  community  there  can  be 
of  conduct  between  him  and  those  who  think  of  these 
things  as  almost  all  the  rest  of  his  friends  do.  We 


1792]  POLITICAL  EVENTS  391 

must  wait  till  circumstances  shall  become  so  critical 
as  to  leave  no  room  for  dissent  among  those  who 
might  differ  now  most  widely.  In  the  meanwhile 
each  must  go  his  way  (not  individually,  I  don't  mean, 
but  according  to  the  two  great  parts  into  which  we  are, 
unhappily,  divided),  not  separating  with  any  ill-will 
to  each  other,  but  with  the  earnest  hope  that  our 
separation  may  be  temporary,  and  that  we  may  soon 
find  ourselves  together  again  in  our  old  connexion  ; 
the  idea  of  continuing  measures  in  which  we  might 
appear  in  conduct  to  be  as  much  united — as  we  still 
are,  I  am  persuaded,  in  affections — has  been  tried  al- 
ready without  success,  and  been  adhered  to,  perhaps, 
already  too  long. 

....... 

' 'Fox,  in  the  meantime,  is  seeking  to  abate  some- 
thing of  the  violence  of  people  against  him,  and  by 
different  steps  which  he  is  taking,  and  by  his  language 
yesterday  about  war,  is,  I  hope,  preparing  for  a  course 
of  conduct  which  may  do  away  with  much  of  the 
injury  which  he  has  lately  done  to  himself.  Never  was 
there  a  man  who  had  made  such  war  upon  all  his  own 
hopes  and  advantages.  Had  this  cursed  institution 
of  "The  friends  of  the  People"  never  taken  place, 
or  had  he  done  with  respect  to  it  what  regard  to  him- 
self— equally  with  regard  to  his  party — required,  he 
would  have  been  at  this  moment  either  in  the  lead  of 
affairs,  or  in  a  situation  still  more  proudly  elevated, 
that  of  seeing  his  antagonists  prostrate  before  him, 
and  dependent  for  their  power  on  his  forbearance  and 
magnanimity.  All  this  he  has  now  lost;  and,  in  a 
way,  in  my  opinion,  never  to  be  wholly  recovered. 

"The  terror  is  that,  finding  other  prospects  more 
and  more  desperate,  he  should  give  more  and  more 
in  to  those  French  principles,  and  at  last  throw  him- 
self into  the  arms  of  that  party. 

"With  respect  to  Coalitions,  you  need  have  no 
apprehensions.  .  .  . 

"With  respect  to  War,  Pitt's  speech  last  night  left 
it  quite  undecided  .  .  .  but  I  hope  that  this  country 


392  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1793 


may  be  ready  and  disposed  to  take  all  proper  measures 
for  the  resisting  this  alarming  progress  of  the  French 
Power. 

"  I  will  not,  after  such  a  long  letter,  add  more  than 
my  request  of  compliments  to  the  ladies,  and  that 
you  believe  me 

"  Ever  most  truly  and  affectionately  yours 

"  W.  Windham. 

"Hill  Street,  December  21st,  1792." 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Coke's  answer  to  this  letter 
has  not  been  preserved.  Within  a  week,  however,  he 
had  determined  to  enter  the  fray,  for  on  December  27th 
Fox  wrote  applauding  his  decision  and  begging  for  his 
presence  on  a  particular  day, — the  first,  Fox  says,  on 
which  he  himself  proposed  to  attend. 

"  I  think,"  Fox  adds,  "  every  day  more  and  more 
seriously  of  the  mischievous  consequences  which  this 
measure  must  produce,  but  I  believe  Pitt  is  determined 
to  go  on  with  it." 

On  February  1st,  1793,  war  was  declared  with  France. 
The  announcement  met  with  almost  universal  satisfac- 
tion amongst  the  bulk  of  the  people,  who  as  yet  had 
not  realised  that  a  few  years  of  successful  achievements 
in  arms  may  be  dearly  bought  by  a  long  period  of 
national  distress. 

Soon  after  its  commencement  the  commercial  diffi- 
culties in  which  the  country  became  involved  gave 
weight  to  their  arguments.  Extensive  mercantile  fail- 
ures occurred,  owing  to  the  sudden  transition  from  a 
state  of  peace  to  a  state  of  war,  which,  by  affecting  all 
the  foreign  commercial  relations  of  the  country,  was 
destructive  to  mercantile  credit.     Pitt,  it  is  said,  was 


1793]  POLITICAL  EVENTS  393 

never  desirous  for  hostilities  as  his  opponents  repre- 
sented him,  but  he  had  to  bear  the  onus  of  the  measure, 
and  he  certainly  grievously  miscalculated  both  the 
duration  of  the  conflict,  and  its  result  on  the  prosperity 
of  the  country.  For  that  war  which  Pitt  and  his 
supporters  believed  would  not  last  two  years,  lasted 
upwards  of  twenty  ;  and  meanwhile  the  National  Debt, 
which  during  the  American  war  had  increased  from 
150  to  250  millions,  during  the  war  with  France  in- 
creased to  800  millions. 

"  Would  to  God!"  Coke  said  years  afterwards, 
"that  Ministers  had  seen  their  error  before  they 
plunged  so  madly  into  a  war  which  has  nearly  been 
the  ruin  of  the  country";1  and  once,  during  a  period  of 
acute  national  poverty  and  agricultural  distress,  he 
wrote  an  undated  memorandum  in  a  notebook  : — 

"  If  Pitt  could  look  up  from  his  grave,  he  might 
well  say  :  '  Behold  the  consequences  of  having  inter- 
fered with  France  in  '92.' — George  III  and  the  Tories 
have  to  answer  for  it  all !  " 

1  Norwich  Mercury ,  January  23rd,  1830. 


[1792 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

CHARITY,  AND  A  WEDDING 
i 792-1 795 

JEtat  38-41 

DESPITE  the  prevailing  political  excitement 
at  this  period,  Dr.  Parr  became  occupied 
about  a  private  matter,  with  regard  to  which 
he  soon  wrote  to  solicit  Coke's  assistance. 


Dr.  Parr  to  Thomas  William  Coke. 


"  Hatton,  near  Warwick, 

/  /  £-> •  "  Tune  12th.  I7Q2. 

"  Dear  Sir,  J  1 

"The  experience  I  have  had  of  your  generosity 
and  munificence  induces  me  to  take  a  second  liberty 
in  laying  before  you  a  case  which  extremely  interests 
my  feeling,  and  I  trust  will  not  be  thought  wholly 
unworthy  of  your  attention.  I  shall  do  myself  the 
honour  of  laying  before  you  the  most  important 
particulars  of  the  case,  and  for  information  I  shall 
beg  leave  to  refer  you  to  Mr.  Windham,  who  is 
personally  acquainted  with  the  extraordinary  merits 
and  the  peculiar  situation  of  the  gentleman  in  whose 
behalf  I  am  now  writing  to  you. 

"Mr.  Porson  is  a  native  of  Norfolk.1    He  was 
born  of  very  humble  parents  in  the  neighbourhood 

1  Richard  Porson,  Professor  of  Greek  in  the  University  of  Cambridge 
from  1792  to  1808.  His  father  was  a  weaver  and  his  mother  the  daughter 
of  a  shoemaker. 


394 


1792]        CHARITY,  AND  A  WEDDING  395 


of  North  Walsham.  His  wonderful  talents  induced 
some  worthy  men  to  support  him  by  subscription, 
first  at  Eton  School,  and  afterwards  at  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge.  He  justified  and  rewarded 
their  kindness  by  a  most  astonishing  proficiency  in 
learning,  and  I  hazard  nothing  when  I  assure  you 
that  at  this  moment  he  is  the  very  best  Greek  Scholar 
in  England.  An  University  Scholarship,  which  he 
gained  by  his  uncommon  and  indeed  unparalleled 
erudition,  has  for  some  time  been  vacant,  and  in 
August  next  he  must  give  up  a  very  profitable 
fellowship  at  Trinity  College,  because  he  cannot, 
from  motives  of  conscience,  take  orders,  which  by 
the  statute  of  the  society  are  necessary  after  a  term 
of  years.  His  honour  therefore  deprives  him  of  the 
protection  to  which  his  learning  entitles  him,  and  he 
is  thrown  upon  the  world  without  a  fortune  and  with- 
out a  patron.  One  cruel  aggravation  of  his  case  is 
that  at  Trinity  College  there  are  only  two  fellowships 
which  laymen  can  long  hold.  Lately,  one  of  these 
fellowships  became  vacant,  and  with  claims  such  as 
no  scholar  could  urge  since  the  days  of  Dr.  Bentley, 
Mr.  Porson  applied  for  it.  I  feel  a  pang  when  I  tell 
you  that  the  Master  of  the  College  who  knows  Mr. 
Porson's  distresses,  attainments,  and  talents,  was 
pleased  to  refuse  his  request,  and  to  give  the  fellow- 
ship to  a  relation  of  his  own. 

"  Mr.  Porson  is  a  man  of  very  few  wants,  not  much 
acquainted  with  the  world,  and  possessed  of  an 
independence  of  spirit,  not  favourable  to  his  interests. 
Work  he  must,  and  work  he  will,  for  his  bread  ;  and 
work,  too,  in  such  a  manner  as  will  do  honour  to  the 
literature  of  his  country  and  age.  But  so  great  a 
man  should  not  be  left  wholly  dependent  upon  book- 
sellers, nor  exposed  to  the  distresses  which  age  or 
sickness  may  bring  upon  him.  His  friends,  there- 
fore, intend  to  raise  the  sum  of  thirteen  hundred 
pounds  for  buying  him  an  annuity,  and  probably 
they  will  consult  his  feelings  by  not  informing  him, 
in  detail,  who  his  benefactors  are. 

i '  Such,  sir,  is  the  case  which  I  have  the  honour 


396  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1792 


of  submitting  to  your  consideration,  and  when  I 
assure  you  that  Norfolk  never  produced  a  greater 
man  and  that  England  at  this  day  cannot  boast  of  so 
good  a  scholar,  I  hope  that  you  will  forgive  me  for 
sympathising  with  his  sorrows  and  for  endeavouring 
to  interest  men  of  fortune  and  men  of  worth  in  his 
favour. 

"  I  will  again  refer  you  to  Mr.  Windham  for  the 
confirmation  of  what  I  have  said."  .  .  . 

"Less  said  by  you  on  behalf  of  Porson's  great 
mind,"  replied  Coke,  "would  have  been  sufficient, 
without  referring  me  to  a  second  person  to  induce 
me  to  contribute  by  a  small  gift  of  £50  to  his  future 
comfort,  which  I  send  a  draft  for." 

To  which  Parr  replied,  on  June  27th  : — 

"Yesterday  I  had  the  honour  of  receiving  your 
very  obliging  letter,  together  with  a  most  valuable 
present  of  fifty  pounds  in  favour  of  Mr.  Porson, 
for  which,  both  in  his  name  and  my  own,  I  entreat 
you  to  accept  my  most  respectful  and  grateful  acknow- 
ledgments. To  a  man  in  whose  mind  benevolence 
is  united  with  that  delicacy  which  is  the  fruit  of  good 
learning,  it  is  a  great  consolation  indeed  to  have  an 
opportunity  of  directing  his  application  to  men  of 
that  prompt  and  dignified  generosity  which  I  have 
more  than  once  experienced  in  you. 

"  It  will,  I  am  sure,  give  you  satisfaction  to  be  told 
that  our  learned  Norfolkian  will  probably  be  more 
comfortable  for  the  rest  of  his  days." 

In  this  instance,  out  of  his  own  small  means,  Parr 
personally  contributed  fifteen  pounds  to  the  fund,  and 
the  result  of  the  subscription  collected  was  to  provide 
Porson  with  an  annuity  of  £100  a  year.  Thencefor- 
ward Parr  always  endeavoured  to  befriend  the  great 
Greek  scholar,  in  spite  of  the  strenuous  opposition  of 
Mrs.  Parr,  who  objected,  and  not  without  ample  reason, 


1792]         CHARITY,  AND  A  WEDDING  397 

to  the  dirty  and  drunken  habits  of  her  husband's 
celebrated  protege.  Still  more,  although  a  vain  man, 
and  extremely  jealous  of  his  own  priority  in  the 
Republic  of  Letters,  Parr  always  magnanimously  paid 
a  tribute  to  Porson's  learning.  "  Professor  Porson," 
he  would  say,  "is  the  best  Attic  Greek  scholar  in 
Europe";  only,  one  day,  when  out  riding  with  a 
friend,  Parr  suddenly  switched  his  horse  with  an  un- 
controllable impulse  and  exclaimed,  determinedly  : 
"  Porson  has  more  Greek,  but  no  man's  horse,  John, 
carries  more  Latin  than  mine  !  " 

Parr's  readiness  to  acknowledge  the  merits  of  a  rival, 
however,  Porson  did  not  share.  Though  grateful  for 
the  Doctor's  efforts  on  his  behalf,  Porson  viewed  Parr 
very  much  in  the  light  of  sounding  brass,  and  was  keen 
to  throw  ridicule  upon  Parr's  bombastic  conversation. 
The  only  record  of  Coke  ever  meeting  Porson  was  on 
the  well-known  occasion  when,  a  large  company  being 
assembled  at  the  Doctor's  house,  and  Parr  being  minded 
to  introduce  some  profound  topic  which  should  give 
full  scope  for  displaying  his  own  exceptional  powers  of 
reasoning,  turned  to  Porson  and  inquired  sententiously  : 
"Pray,  sir,  what  do  you  think  about  the  introduction 
of  moral  and  physical  evil  into  the  world?"  A  hush  fell 
upon  the  company,  and  all  awaited  Porson's  reply  with 
respect.  He  thought  for  a  moment,  and  then,  with  an 
air  of  solemnity  which  rivalled  the  Doctor's  own, 
delivered  himself  of  the  conclusion  which  effectually 
nipped  Parr's  eloquence:  "Why,  Doctor,  I  think  we 
should  have  done  very  well  without  either  ! " 

Porson's  unbroken  assurance,  in  short,  awed  even 
the  self-complacency  of  Parr  ;  and  the  Doctor,  who 


398  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1793 
invariably  lost  his  temper  when  contradicted,  was  no 
match  for  the  cool  and  impudent  repartee  of  the  great 
Grecian.  On  one  occasion  in  a  dispute  with  Porson, 
Parr,  feeling  he  was  getting  the  worst  of  the  argument, 
said  rudely:  "  Professor,  my  opinion  of  you  is  most  con- 
temptible !  "  "  Sir,"  returned  Porson  calmly,  "  I  never 
knew  an  opinion  of  yours  that  was  not  contemptible  !  " 

The  year  following  Parr's  championship  of  Porson, 
another  and  a  far  different  subject  for  charity  presented 
itself  to  Coke. 

At  this  date  Fox's  financial  embarrassment,  occa- 
sioned by  his  reckless  extravagance,  had  reached  a 
crisis  which  made  it  imperative  that  his  friends  should 
come  to  his  assistance.  Once  Fox,  alluding  to  his  ill- 
health,  had  remarked  that  he  was  compelled  to  observe 
much  regularity  in  his  diet  and  hours,  adding,  "  I  live 
by  line  and  rule,  like  clockwork."  "  Yes,"  replied  his 
friend,  "  I  suppose  you  mean  you  go  tick,  tick,  tick/"1 
But  by  1793  matters  reached  a  point  at  which  even  this 
method  of  procedure  was  closed  to  him,  and  while  Fox 
himself  wondered,  somewhat  hopelessly,  if  he  could 
make  a  living  at  the  Bar,  his  friends  decided  to  form  a 
committee,  secretly,  to  discover  some  plan  of  affording 
him  relief. 

Coke  was  one  of  the  first  to  respond  to,  if  he  did  not 
actually  originate,  the  means  to  be  adopted  to  this  end. 
The  committee  consisted  of  himself,  Lord  G.  Cavendish, 
Lord  John  Russell,  and  Messrs.  Crewe,  Coombe,  Adair, 
Byng,  Francis  Wyner,  Wrightson,  Skinner  and  Pelham. 
They  met  at  the  Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern  in  the 
Strand  on  June  1st  and  discussed  how  the  proposed 

1  Wraxall,  Posthumous  Memoirs,  Vol.  I,  p.  239. 


1793]  CHARITY,  AND  A  WEDDING  399 
assistance  could  be  proffered  in  a  guise  which  would 
not  offend.  It  was  finally  decided  that  it  should  take 
the  delicate  form  of  "  offering  to  Mr.  Fox  some  effective 
testimony  of  gratitude  for  his  long  and  unwearied 
public  exertions." 

The  question  had  no  sooner  been  bruited  than  Parr 
got  wind  of  it.  He  waited  till  after  the  meeting,  and 
then  wrote  to  beg  Coke  to  give  him  further  information 
that  he  might  become  "a  humble  fellow-labourer  in 
this  important  work  of  justice  to  the  most  injured  of 
men,  and  of  gratitude  to  the  most  useful  of  citizens,  and 
of  reverence  to  the  most  accomplished  of  Statesmen." 

' '  It  gives  me  great  pleasure,"  Coke  replied,  "to 
find  that  we  may  rank  you  with  the  promoters  of  the 
present  laudable  undertaking,  which  succeeds  beyond 
the  most  sanguine  expectations  we  could  form  !  Nor 
am  I  less  pleased  to  find  that  you  agree  with  me  in 
thinking  that  Mr.  Fox  never  deserved  better  of  his 
country  for  his  parliamentary  conduct  during  the 
present  Session,  in  opposing  measures  which  I  fear 
will  shortly  be  proved  to  have  plunged  this  country 
in  very  serious  difficulties,  with  no  better  plea  on  the 
part  of  the  Administration  than  to  avert  very  distant 
evils,  or  rather  danger  of  their  own  creating,  in  order, 
by  working  on  the  fears  of  the  timid,  to  obtain  the 
sanction  of  Parliament  for  involving  us  in  the  present 
calamitous  war.  All  we  have  now  to  hope  for  is  a 
speedy  conclusion  of  it.  But  this  we  must  hope  for 
in  vain,  as  nothing  less  than  unconditional  submis- 
sion on  the  part  of  France  will  be  accepted  by  those 
in  power,  notwithstanding  our  dearly-bought  experi- 
ence in  America." 

Mrs.  Coke  also  wrote  furnishing  Parr  with  particulars 
respecting  the  proposed  fund,  and  a  fortnight  later  the 
Doctor  replied  that  he  was  "happy  and  proud  to 


400  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1793 


acknowledge  "  the  letters  by  which  he  had  been  honoured 
from  both,  and  to  explain  that  he  had  sent  his  "  little 
contribution"  to  the  Fund.  "It  contains,"  he  adds 
with  a  simplicity  which  contrasts  with  his  otherwise 
bombastic  utterances,  "a  full  half-year  of  my  ecclesias- 
tical income — I  wish  it  could  with  convenience  have 
been  more." 

He  forthwith  started  an  active  canvass  on  behalf  of 
the  Fund,  and  forwarded  to  Holkham  a  detailed  account 
of  his  stewardship. 

i  1  With  the  good  people  of  Warwick  I  had  many 
interviews  ;  they  are  few  in  number  and  not  very 
affluent  in  circumstances,  but  truly  Whiggish  in 
principles,  and  to  Mr.  Fox  most  friendly  in  attach- 
ment. Just  before  I  left  the  country  it  was  settled 
that  upon  the  return  of  some  reputable  tradesman 
from  Chester  Fair,  my  friends  should  meet  and  agree 
upon  their  contributions.  I  left  with  them  two 
guineas,  which  I  received  at  a  Bowling  Green  from  a 
country  clergyman  and  a  country  surgeon  whose 
hearts  are  with  us  and  whose  gifts  would  have  been 
larger  if  prudence  had  permitted.  A  wise  and  worthy 
man  who  lives  at  Birmingham,  and  whose  firmness  in 
seasons  of  danger  and  difficulty  would  stand  even 
comparison  with  your  own,  gave  me  a  hundred 
pounds.  ...  I  applied  to  a  neighbouring  clergyman 
at  Kenilworth — whose  property  and  person  have  been 
threatened  as  well  as  my  own,  because  his  opinions 
are  just  and  his  spirit  as  firm  as  my  own — and  though 
encumbered  with  a  family  of  six  or  seven  children, 
he  assured  me  he  would  send  ten  pounds." 

A  Quaker  and  an  "  opulent  Dissenter  "  in  Birming- 
ham were  the  next  objects  of  Parr's  attacks.  In 
Worcestershire  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  encounter 
a  "  sturdy  Whiggish  yeoman,"  and  "  by  my  conversa- 
tion with  him  I  obtained  a  promise  that  he  would  give, 


1793]         CHARITY,  AND  A  WEDDING  401 


and  persuade  others  to  give  to  the  full  extent  of  their 
power  ;  neither  he  nor  his  neighbours  are  rich,  but  they 
will  do  something,  and  whatever  they  do  will  be  well 
meant."  In  Monmouthshire  he  stayed  with  friends 
whose  principles  gave  him  the  liveliest  satisfaction. 

"  You  would  sympathise  with  the  joy  I  feel,  not 
only  from  the  hospitality  and  politeness  of  my  host 
and  hostess,  but  from  the  sincerity  of  their  attach- 
ment to  Whiggism,  and  from  the  warmth  of  their 
regard  for  Mr.  Fox.  I  am  at  this  moment  surrounded 
by  Welsh  mountains,  and  I  have  a  better  taste  for 
their  grandeur  from  the  presence  of  four  Whigs 
whom  no  Court  can  corrupt,  whom  Pitt  could  never 
delude,  and  whom  Mr.  Windham  himself  could  not 
intimidate  ;  from  one  of  them  I  shall  this  day  send 
up  a  contribution  of  ten  pounds,  and  of  the  rest  I  am 
happy  and  proud  to  assure  you  that  they  feel  all  the 
ardour,  and  will  act  with  all  the  generosity  which  you 
or  I  could  wish.  .  .  .  My  worthy  host  and  hostess, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Greene,  are  just  as  warm  in  the  business 
as  myself,  and  will  do  what  is  considered  proper. 
Believe  me,  dear  Sir,  that  if  the  success  of  our  cause 
depended  upon  honest  hearts  and  wise  heads,  these 
four  Whigs  would  lead  four  hundred  Tories  captive, 
and  put  four  thousand  to  shame  by  the  rectitude 
of  their  intentions  and  the  manliness  of  their 
conduct.  ..." 

Apart  from  the  burning  question  of  party  politics, 
and  of  patriotism  as  interpreted  by  active  antagonism 
to  Pitt,  if  posterity  needed  proof  of  the  affection  which 
Fox  was  capable  of  inspiring,  they  might  surely  find  it 
in  Dr.  Parr's  letter.  The  people  of  Warwick  "  not 
very  affluent  in  circumstances,"  the  i '  reputable  trades- 
man "  at  Chester,  the  country  clergyman  and  surgeon 
at  the  Bowling  Green,  the  parson  at  Kenilworth  with 
his  large  family,  the  "  sturdy  Whiggish  yeoman,"  the 
1.— 2  D 


402  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1793 
' 1  well-disposed  attorney,"  and  others  apparently  of 
small  means,  all  giving-  what  they  could  ill  afford,  not 
to  mention  Parr  himself  cheerfully  resigning  half  his 
slender  yearly  stipend — these  are  surely  remarkable 
proofs  of  the  sway  which  Fox  exercised  over  the  minds 
of  his  countrymen,  more  especially  when  one  con- 
siders that  all  these  contributors  to  the  Fund  must 
have  been  fully  aware  that  Fox  owed  his  distress,  not 
to  undeserved  misfortune,  but  wholly  to  his  own 
reckless  folly  and  vice ;  a  cause  by  which  they  had  no 
guarantee  that  their  offerings  would  not  also  be  quickly 
dissipated. 

And  if  further  evidence  were  needed,  it  might  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  a  man,  then  almost  in  as  great 
straits  pecuniarily  as  was  Fox  himself,  gave  hand- 
somely to  the  Fund.  That  man  was  Coke's  old  friend 
Lord  Moira  (formerly  Lord  Rawdon),  and  his  donation 
was  due  to  the  following  curious  chain  of  events. 

While  Lord  Moira  was  absent  in  India,  the  Duke  of 
Richmond  made  certain  observations  respecting  him  in 
the  House  of  Lords  at  which  Lord  Moira  took  great 
offence.  Immediately  upon  his  return  to  England,  he 
called  upon  the  Duke,  and  demanded  a  retraction  and 
an  apology.  To  this  the  Duke  at  once  consented,  but 
Lord  Moira,  not  deeming  a  private  apology  adequate, 
required  the  Duke  to  read  a  public  apology  in  the 
House  of  Lords.  This  also  the  Duke  did,  and  Lord 
Moira  then  decided  to  call  upon  Fox  to  do  the  same  in 
the  House  of  Commons.  Coke,  knowing  Fox's  inde- 
pendent spirit,  and  that  he  would  never  consent  to  make 
an  apology  in  any  but  his  own  words,  went  to  the 
House  of  Lords — the  first  occasion  on  which  he  ever  set 


1793]  CHARITY,  AND  A  WEDDING  403 
foot  inside  its  walls — and  sent  for  Lord  Moira.  He  im- 
plored the  latter  not  to  put  his  intentions  into  execution, 
saying,  "  Fox  is  my  dearest  friend  ;  and  if  you  did  but 
know  him  as  well  as  I  do,  you  would  love  him  as  much." 

At  length  Lord  Moira  consented  to  forego  his  inten- 
tion ;  whereupon  Coke  insisted  that  he  should  come, 
forthwith,  and  be  introduced  to  Fox.  From  that  time 
forward  these  two  great  men,  on  the  strength  of  their 
common  friendship  for  Coke,  became  devoted  to  each 
other.  When  the  subscription  for  Fox  was  being 
privately  raised,  Coke,  knowing  that  Lord  Moira  was 
himself  in  pecuniary  distress,  did  not  wish  him  to  con- 
tribute to  it,  but  happening  one  day  inadvertently  to 
mention  the  existence  of  the  Fox  Fund  in  Lord  Moira's 
presence,  the  latter,  with  characteristic  generosity,  at 
once  exclaimed,  "Tom,  I  am  delighted  you  have  men- 
tioned it  to  me — here  is  a  thousand  pounds  ! "  and 
without  a  moment's  hesitation  he  presented  Coke  with 
a  cheque  for  the  amount  named.1 

The  result  of  the  subscriptions  got  together  by  Fox's 
friends  was  a  sum  which  enabled  them  to  present  him 
with  a  handsome  annuity  of  £3000,  for  which  Coke 
and  two  of  his  friends  were  appointed  trustees  ;  and 
which  Fox  accepted  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  ten- 
dered. From  that  day  forward  Fox  never  attended 
Newmarket,2  nor  ever  again  played  for  money  ;  and 
although  this  must  be  considered  as  only  what  was  due 
to  the  friends  who  had  helped  him  in  his  embarrassment, 
yet  in  view  of  the  habits  of  his  whole  former  life  it  also 

1  Told  by  Coke  to  the  Hon.  the  Rev.  Thomas  Keppel,  Holkham  MSS. 

2  Memoirs  of  the  Whig  Party,  by  Henry  Vassall,  third  Baron  Holland 
(1854),  Vol.  I,  p.  66. 


404  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1793 
indicates  a  strength  of  moral  character  with  which  his 
enemies  did  not  always  accredit  him. 

During  the  months  which  followed,  Coke  does  not 
appear  to  have  taken  any  prominent  part  in  current 
politics.  The  adherents  of  Fox  were  too  much  in  the 
minority  to  stem  the  tide  of  events  ;  the  great  measures 
which  Coke  had  most  at  heart — Parliamentary  Reform, 
Catholic  Emancipation  and  the  Abolition  of  the  Slave 
Trade — were  all,  perforce,  in  abeyance.  Measures 
more  pressing  at  the  moment,  though  of  less  permanent 
national  import,  occupied  the  attention  of  the  House. 
Foremost  amongst  these  was  the  unsettled  condition  of 
the  lower  orders  throughout  the  land.  For  the  spirit 
and  the  panic  of  impending  revolution  had  spread 
through  England  till  it  had  become  a  terror  which 
inflamed  the  disaffected  and  paralysed  the  orderly  ;  and 
the  measures  by  which  Pitt  endeavoured  to  cope  with 
it  seemed  only  to  increase  the  passions  of  the  seditious 
and  to  alienate  the  peaceable,  who  were  indignant  at 
what  they  considered  his  interference  with  the  sacred 
rights  of  the  individual. 

Still  more,  the  result  of  the  war  which  Coke  had 
anticipated  was  already  taking  effect ;  the  National 
Debt  went  up  by  leaps  and  bounds,  taxation  became 
intolerable  ;  while,  daily,  the  uselessness  of  interference 
with  France  became  more  apparent.  For  even  the  more 
moderate  among  the  French  politicians  who  condemned 
the  methods  by  which  France  was  obtaining  her  free- 
dom, recognised  that  freedom  to  be  a  matter  of  such 
vital  necessity  that,  whatever  the  cost,  they  were 
pledged  to  defend  and  maintain  it. 


1793]         CHARITY,  AND  A  WEDDING  405 

Throughout  this  period  Dr.  Parr  never  ceased  to 
inveigh  loudly  in  his  lengthy  letters  to  Coke  against 
"the  cunning  of  Mr.  Pitt  and  the  ingenuity  of  our 
friend  Mr.  Windham."  Twice  he  relates  sarcastically 
how  he  encountered  Windham  and  expostulated  per- 
sonally with  the  Apostate  : — 

' i  I  was  well  aware  of  the  blind  zeal  which  actuates 
our  Felbrigg  friend,  but  I  had  not  heard  of  his  in- 
tolerance. I  met  him  twice  last  February ;  the  con- 
versation was  warm  each  day,  and  on  the  second  day 
he,  with  some  precipitation,  left  the  room.  ...  I  did 
not  find  that  he  was  gifted  with  a  new  stock  of  ability 
to  defend  his  new  system  of  politics.  ...  It  took 
Mr.  Windham  some  hours  to  explain  his  meaning, 
and  it  will  take  me  many  years  to  understand  it ! " 

And  again  he  laments  : — 

"It  gives  me  the  most  agonising  feelings  to  find 
our  honourable  friend,  Mr.  Windham,  so  devoted  to 
bad  men  and  so  enslaved  to  a  bad  cause.  Of  his  in- 
integrity  you  and  I  can  have  no  doubt,  and  for  his 
desertion  even  my  partiality  can  make  no  apology. 
.  .  .  Let  the  intrigues  of  the  Court,  or  the  division 
of  parties,  or  the  madness  of  the  people  be  what  they 
will,  I  know  that  you  are  acting  the  wise,  as  well  as 
the  honourable  part.  And  I  know  also  that  the  day 
cannot  be  very  distant  when  they  who  now  condemn, 
will  hereafter  applaud  and  thank  you." 

But  seeing  that  little  hope  existed,  as  yet,  of  stemming 
the  adverse  tide  of  politics,  Coke  tried  to  devise  other 
means  of  lessening  the  universal  distress.  About  this 
date  we  find  him  writing  earnestly  to  Arthur  Young  to 
point  out  how  the  riots  among  the  lower  classes  might 
always  be  traced  to  the  same  cause — the  high  price 
of  provisions,  especially  of  bread.    "From  my  own 


4o6  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1793 


observation,"  he  remarks,  "  I  do  suspect  the  poor  suffer 
greatly  from  the  shameful  practices  and  combinations 
of  the  millers,"  and  he  proposed  framing  a  bill  to  fix 
an  assize  on  flour,  according  to  the  average  price  of 
wheat,  which  should  enforce  millers  to  grind  for  all 
persons  at  a  certain  sum  per  bushel,  such  persons  being 
at  liberty  to  inspect  the  corn  whilst  grinding,  and  penal 
clauses  to  be  enacted  against  any  adulteration  of  the 
wheat,  or  mixing  water  with  the  meal  to  increase  the 
weight. 

"  I  must  also  mention  another  cruel  grievance  to 
the  poor,"  he  added  ;  "  that  there  is  no  legal  restraint 
on  shopkeepers  in  villages  respecting  their  weights 
and  measures.  Could  no  means  be  devised  to  protect 
the  buyer  from  the  artifices  of  the  seller  without  in- 
jury to  the  latter  in  their  honest  gains?  Why  might 
not  magistrates  have  the  power  of  punishing  for 
short  weights  and  measures,  complaint  to  be  made 
within  six  days?  " 1 

But  Arthur  Young's  answer  has  not  survived,  and 
more  than  a  century  was  to  pass  before  Coke's  sugges- 
tion of  a  Government  supervision  of  weights  and 
measures  was  adopted. 

While  these  matters  were  occupying  his  attention, 
however,  an  event  happened  at  Holkham  in  which  he 
was,  no  doubt,  even  more  interested  than  in  a  vain 
attempt  to  bring  about  the  betterment  of  public  affairs. 

His  two  daughters,  Jane  and  Ann,  were  now  approach- 
ing womanhood.  Jane,  on  December  22nd,  was  about 
to  complete  her  sixteenth  year  ;  while  Ann  had  passed 
her  fourteenth  birthday  on  the  previous  January  23rd. 

1  Autobiography  of  Arthur  Young,  ed.  by  M.  Betham  Edwards,  p.  212. 


1793]  CHARITY,  AND  A  WEDDING  407 
The  former  had  become  a  strikingly  beautiful  girl,  the 
exact  counterpart  of  her  mother  in  feature,  colouring 
and  expression,  although  she  is  reputed  never  to  have 
attained  to  Mrs.  Coke's  perfection  of  figure.  A  picture 
of  her  by  Hoppner  when  she  was  quite  young  shows  a 
lovely,  roguish  face,  with  a  marvellous  wealth  of  auburn 
hair  piled  carelessly  above  her  forehead  and  falling  in 
luxuriant  masses  about  her  shoulders.  To  her  mother's 
beauty  she  united  much  of  her  father's  brain  ;  and  the 
inherent  love  of  art,  which  had  shown  itself  in  two 
generations  of  Cokes,  found  expression  again  in  her 
wonderful  genius  for  painting. 

She  was  only  fifteen  when  she  painted  a  most  re- 
markable picture,  with  about  five  life-sized  figures, 
of  Belisarius  begging — an  ambitious  and  successful 
work,  even  for  an  artist  of  more  mature  age  ;  and  had 
she  belonged  to  a  later  generation,  or  been  born  in  a 
different  sphere,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  she  would 
have  made  her  mark  as  an  artist  of  no  small  repute. 

Ann,  too,  had  a  great  artistic  talent.  Some  of  her 
pictures  painted  when  she  was  quite  young,  both 
original  portraits  and  copies  from  the  old  masters,  are 
extraordinarily  clever  ;  while  the  exquisite  manner  in 
which,  later  in  life,  she  copied  and  renovated  some  of 
the  delicate  illuminations  in  the  old  missals  at  Holk- 
ham,  as  we  shall  see,  filled  Roscoe  with  admiration. 

Both  she  and  her  sister  were  pupils  of  Gainsborough, 
who  stayed  at  Holkham  to  teach  them  ;  and  although 
it  is  impossible  to  tell  if  the  master's  brush  improved 
the  pupils'  work,  it  is  certainly  difficult  in  some  in- 
stances to  distinguish  between  the  paintings  of  the 
former  and  of  the  latter. 


408  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1793 
Ann,  without  being  possessed  of  the  really  dazzling 
beauty  of  her  sister,  was  an  unusually  handsome  girl, 
with  fine  eyes  and  a  brilliant  complexion.  She  had 
been  more  carefully  relegated  to  the  schoolroom  than 
Jane,  who,  in  her  position  of  elder  daughter,  had  taken 
a  certain  part  in  social  events  ever  since  she  had 
opened  the  ball  in  1788.  Yet  both  girls  had  been 
brought  up  with  the  greatest  care  and  a  complete 
absence  of  luxury.  Everything  which  could  make 
them  simple  in  their  tastes  and  hardy  in  health  was 
carried  out  in  their  education.  Their  food  was  of  the 
plainest  description,  they  were  never  allowed  a  fire  in 
their  bedrooms,  or  to  approach  the  fire  in  the  school- 
room by  stepping  upon  the  hearthrug, — and  this  despite 
the  fact  that,  according  to  the  fashion  of  the  day,  they 
always  wore  dresses  with  short  sleeves  and  low  necks, 
even  in  the  depth  of  winter.  To  such  a  Spartan  dis- 
cipline, however,  on  the  bleak  Norfolk  coast,  and  in  a 
large,  cold  house,  even  habit  could  not  always  inure 
them  ;  and  I  have  heard  a  tale  that,  on  one  occasion, 
Ann  yielded  to  the  inclination  to  approach  the  fire. 
Coming  down  to  the  schoolroom  one  day  at  7  a.m., 
the  hour  when  they  always  began  lessons  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  cold  winter  mornings,  Ann  found  a  miser- 
able little  apology  for  a  fire  flickering  out  its  uncertain 
life  in  the  large  grate.  No  one  being  about,  the 
temptation  to  warm  her  frozen  hands  and  arms  was 
too  strong.  She  trod  upon  the  forbidden  hearthrug, 
and  was  lifting  up  the  poker  with  the  intention  of 
poking  the  fire,  when,  to  her  intense  dismay,  the  poker 
came  in  two  in  her  hands !  She  used  to  say  that  she 
could  never  forget  the  horror  of  that  moment  when  she 


1793]  CHARITY,  AND  A  WEDDING  409 
recognised  the  judgment  with  which  her  disobedience 
was  so  pointedly  visited  ! 

It  was  in  the  autumn  of  1793  that  Ann,  looking  out 
of  the  schoolroom  window,  saw  a  coach  drive  up  to  the 
front  door,  and  heard  that  young  Mr.  Thomas  Anson 
and  his  father  had  driven  over  to  see  Mr.  Coke.  The 
visitors  remained  for  some  time  apparently  in  private 
conversation  with  her  father,  and  Ann  heard  it  whis- 
pered as  an  open  secret  that  young  Mr.  Anson  had 
come  over  to  propose  for  her  sister  Jane.  He  was,  at 
that  time,  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  and  was  heir  to 
Shugborough,  which  his  father  had  inherited  from  a 
maternal  uncle. 

Suddenly  a  message  arrived  in  the  schoolroom  to  say 
that  Ann  was  to  descend  to  the  Saloon  at  once.  She 
ran  down  in  her  schoolroom  dress,  with  her  long  hair 
falling  over  her  shoulders  ;  and,  to  her  astonishment, 
received  the  announcement  that  it  was  for  her,  and  not 
for  her  elder  sister,  that  Mr.  Anson  had  proposed. 

The  engagement  was  made  public  shortly  afterwards. 
"  I  am  very  happy,"  wrote  Fox  on  December  19th, 
"to  hear  that  Miss  Ann  is  to  be  disposed  of  in  a 
manner  in  all  respects  so  eligible.  I  scarcely  know 
Anson  myself,  but  everybody  speaks  well  of  him."  At 
the  date  of  this  letter,  Ann  was  within  a  month  and  a 
day  of  completing  her  fifteenth  year.  Five  days  later,  a 
Norfolk  clergyman,  who  was  invited  to  Holkham,  wrote : 

"So  to  Holkham,  where  we  had  twenty-three  in 
family,  and  the  most  magnificent,  elegant,  and  at  the 
same  time  agreeable  style  of  living.  Lord  and  Lady 
Melbourne  and  three  daughters,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Edward  Coke,  and  Mr.  Anson  made  part  of  the 


4io  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i793 


society.  The  last-named  gentleman  is  the  husband 
elect  of  Miss  Ann  Coke,  at  present  fifteen  [sic].  She 
is  to  wait  therefore  a  year  to  attain  the  age  of  sixteen, 
before  she  assumes  the  Dignity  and  functions  of  a 
matron  and  Mistress  of  a  Family.  Mr.  Anson  is 
said  to  have  an  Income  of  £22,000  per  annum, 
and  certainly  not  less  than  £14,  or  £15,000." 1 

Ann  wept  copiously  when  her  hair  was  put  up  for 
the  first  time,  as  she  was  greatly  afraid  that  Mr.  Anson, 
who  had  only  seen  her  with  it  down  her  back,  would 
not  recognise  her,  or  approve  of  the  alteration.  The 
wedding  took  place  on  September  2nd  of  the  following 
year,  when  she  was  still  within  four  months  of  complet- 
ing her  sixteenth  birthday.  At  the  wedding  breakfast 
she  looked  such  a  child  that  Dean  Anson  said  mis- 
chievously to  her:  uAnn,  if  you  will  run  round 
the  table,  I  will  give  you  a  sovereign  ! "  Scarcely 
had  the  words  left  his  lips,  than  away  went  the 
delighted  bride,  and,  racing  round  the  table,  triumph- 
antly claimed  her  reward.  She  had  four  children 
before  she  was  twenty,  and  was  so  young  when  she 
began  to  go  out  in  London,  that  her  husband  provided 
for  her  being  chaperoned,  and  at  balls  insisted  on  her 
sitting  at  cards  with  the  dowagers,  which  unfortunately 
gave  her  a  taste  for  gambling. 

Softie  years  later,  grave  Arthur  Young,  who  viewed 
all  luxury  with  suspicion,  dining  at  Mr.  Anson's  to 
meet  "a  farming  party,"  whom  he  describes  as  "  all 
M.P.'s  or  in  high  life," — relates  how  Mr.  Anson's  was 
"a  splendid  house,  one  of  the  best  in  London,  magnifi- 

1  The  Girlhood  of  Maria  Josepha  Holroyd,  edited  by  J.  H.  Adeane 
(1896),  p.  255. 


1793]         CHARITY,  AND  A  WEDDING  411 

cent  furniture,  plate,  servants,  wines  and  everything 
equal  to  £30,000  or  £40,000  a  year;  "but,"  adds 
Arthur  Young  severely,  "he  has  no  such  income  I"1 

The  year  after  Coke  lost  his  second  daughter  by 
marriage,  a  third  daughter  was  born  to  him,  on  March 
31st,  1795,  who  was  thus  just  over  sixteen  years  younger 
than  her  next  sister,  and  only  a  few  months  older  than 
her  niece,  that  sister's  child,  who  was  born  the  follow- 
ing year.  She  was  christened  Elizabeth  Wilhelmina, 
the  first  name  being  that  of  Coke's  mother  and  of  his 
younger  sister,  Lady  Sherborne,  while  the  latter  name 
was  given  her  at  the  request  of  the  Duke  of  Clarence, 
and  was  then  almost  unique  in  England — in  fact,  I  have 
heard  it  said  that  she  was,  at  one  time,  the  sole  posses- 
sor of  the  name  in  this  country. 

Before  her  birth,  however,  Coke  had  again  been 
drawn  into  public  life.  The  year  1794  dawned  darkly 
for  England  with  dissension  at  home  and  war  abroad. 
On  February  7th,  Fox  wrote  from  the  House  of  Com- 
mons to  urge  Coke  to  attend  on  the  following  Monday, 
"when,"  he  says,  "Grey  makes  a  motion  upon  the 
illegality  of  introducing  foreign  troops  into  this  country 
without  the  consent  of  Parliament,  which  I  think  a 
very  material  question,  and  on  which  one  would  hope 
we  should  have  some  of  our  old  friends  againt  On 
Thursday  I  moved  an  inquiry  into  neglects  about  con- 
voys, and  upon  both  these  occasions  we  shall  certainly 
divide."  At  this  juncture  Fox  must  have  clung  more 
tenaciously  to  those  amongst  his  former  friends  who, 
through  good  and  evil  report,  remained  loyal  to  him. 

1  Atctobiography  of  Arthur  Youngs  p.  394. 


412  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i794 
The  July  following  there  took  place  the  great  secession 
of  the  Whigs  headed  by  the  Duke  of  Portland.  The 
Ministry  was  reconstructed  and  a  new  Conservative 
party  was  formed  ;  Portland  became  Home  Secretary, 
Grenville  Foreign  Secretary,  Windham  Secretary  of 
War  and  Fitzwilliam  Viceroy  of  Ireland. 

The  desertion  of  the  Duke  of  Portland  struck  con- 
sternation into  the  ranks  of  those  who  adhered  to  Fox. 
Coke  always  maintained  that  the  true  cause  of  the 
Duke's  change  of  politics  was  his  desire  to  obtain  a  re- 
newal of  certain  property  in  Marylebone  which  he  held 
under  Government,  worth  £200,000.  But  whatever 
construction  may  be  put  on  the  Duke's  motives  at  this 
crisis,  he  fell  into  the  same  error  of  which  Pitt  had  been 
guilty  before  him,  and  endeavoured  to  bribe  Coke  into 
deserting  his  party.  He  wrote  to  Coke  telling  him 
that  His  Majesty  had  given  permission  to  make  three 
peers,  and  begging  him  to  choose  his  title. 

Coke's  indignation  would  not  permit  him  to  send 
a  mere  formal  refusal.  He  at  once  posted  to  London 
and  went  straight  to  see  Mr.  Plumber,  a  very  old  and 
staunch  Whig  member.  He  inquired  abruptly  from 
the  latter  whether  he  was  now  a  friend  of  Fox  or  of 
Portland,  "  for  since  so  many  had  changed  their  prin- 
ciples, it  was  difficult  to  know  where  to  find  a  friend." 
Mr.  Plumber,  whose  politics  were  unswerving,  replied 
warmly  that  if  any  other  man  had  dared  to  ask  him 
such  a  question  he  would  have  considered  it  as  a  direct 
insult,  but  that,  since  he  knew  Mr.  Coke  must  have 
some  good  reason  for  such  an  inquiry,  he  begged  him 
to  explain  what  this  might  be. 

Coke  then  told  him  of  the  Duke's  offer,  and  that  he 


1794]         CHARITY,  AND  A  WEDDING  413 

wished  Mr.  Plumber  to  accompany  him  to  Burlington 
House,  as  he  required  a  witness  to  his  interview  with 
the  Duke.  Mr.  Plumber  replied  that,  unfortunately, 
this  was  impossible,  as  he  himself  had,  that  very  day, 
taken  leave  of  the  Duke  for  the  last  time,  and  had 
vowed  that  he  would  never  again  set  foot  in  Burlington 
House. 

Coke  then  repaired  to  Sir  John  Miller,  to  whom  he 
repeated  his  previous  request.  Sir  John  immediately 
complied,  and  they  went  together  to  Burlington  House. 
Mr.  Keppel  gives  a  more  explicit  account  of  the  inter- 
view than  that  recorded  by  the  Press  version  of  Coke's 
speech.1  On  entering  the  room,  he  says,  Coke  and  Sir 
John  Miller  found  the  Duke  of  Portland  surrounded 
by  about  half  a  dozen  friends  who  were  evidently  pay- 
ing great  court  to  him.  Directly,  however,  the  Duke 
saw  who  his  fresh  visitors  were,  he  rose,  and  hurrying 
eagerly  forward,  held  out  both  his  hands,  and  welcomed 
Coke  warmly  to  Burlington  House.  Coke  drew  back, 
and  amidst  the  sudden  silence  of  those  present,  ad- 
dressed the  Duke  in  the  following  words  :  "  My  Lord 
Duke,  I  have  come  in  person  to  answer  your  letter,  and 
to  express  my  astonishment  and  disgust  at  your  Grace's 
believing  me  capable  of  selling  my  principles  for  a 
peerage ;  and  I  beg  to  acquaint  you  that  from  this  hour 
I  will  never  again  set  my  foot  within  your  doors.  Good 
morning,  my  Lord."2 

He  then  turned  and  quitted  the  room,  leaving  the 
Duke  confused  and  the  rest  of  the  company  much  as- 
tounded at  the  episode.    "  Mr.  Coke,"  said  Sheridan 

1  See  ante,  p.  159. 

2  Holkham  MSS. 


414  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1794 


subsequently,  "  disdained  to  hide  his  head  within  a 
coronet  when  offered  him  ! 

How  bitterly  Fox  felt  the  desertion  of  his  former 
friends  is  shown  in  the  following  letter  which  he  wrote 
to  Coke  on  September  5th,  the  week  before  Ann  Coke's 
marriage. 

' 'Dear  Coke, — I  deferred  writing  till  I  had  seen 
Lord  Robert,  in  order  to  be  able  to  tell  you  with 
more  certainty  about  my  time  of  going  into  Norfolk. 
I  mean  to  be  at  Thetford  the  15th,  and  think  I  shall 
certainly  be  at  Holkham  before  the  end  of  the  month, 
probably  about  the  29th,  but  when  I  am  in  Norfolk  I 
shall  be  able  to  let  you  know  for  certain. 

"  Respecting  those  political  events  you  mention,  I 
have  nothing  to  add  to  what  you  say,  I  am  truly 
sorry  for  them  on  every  account.  It  is,  in  my 
opinion,  a  blow  to  the  reputation  of  all  public  men, 
for  which  even  those  who,  like  you  and  me,  are  clear 
of  the  transaction  and  disapprovers  of  it,  cannot 
fail  in  some  degree  to  suffer  ;  for  it  will  be  reasonably 
said  why  is  [this  ?]  or  that  man  more  trustworthy  than 
those  who  are  gone?  But  enough  of  this  unpleasant 
subject,  and  I  beg  of  Mrs.  Coke  and  you  to  accept  my 
most  sincere  congratulations  on  Miss  Ann's  marriage 
which  I  understand  is  to  take  place  next  week. 

"You  know  my  stay  in  Norfolk  is  cut  by  the 
necessity  which  I  am  under  of  being  in  London  on 
the  10th  of  October ;  but  I  hope  both  before  and 
after  that  day  to  spend  some  very  pleasant  days  at 
Holkham.  Just  about  me  there  are  but  few  birds 
this  year,  but  I  believe  this  is  accidental,  as  at  Oat- 
lands  and  other  places  in  the  neighbourhood  there 
are  more  than  usual,  and  I  saw  yesterday  above  thirty 
pheasants  where  I  do  not  think  I  ever  saw  more  than 
two  or  three  in  former  years. 

"  Yours  ever, 
"St.  Ann's  Hill,  Sept.  $th.  "  C.  J.  Fox. 

1  Wraxall,  Posthumous  Memoirs,  Vol.  I,  p.  3. 


1794]         CHARITY,  AND  A  WEDDING  415 

"  Pray  tell  Ralph,1  who  is  I  believe  with  you,  that 
I  shall  be  at  Thetford  to  shoot  and  dine  on  the  10th. 
It  would  induce  him  possibly  to  come  thither  a  day 
or  two  before  we  go  to  Colham,  which  I  understand 
to  be  fixed  for  17th." 

In  the  excitement  of  his  favourite  sport  at  Holkham, 
Fox  tried  to  bury  the  recollection  of  political  troubles, 
but  the  effort  was  probably  attended  with  but  small 
success.  It  was  while  paying  this  visit  that  he  wrote 
to  Lord  Holland  (October,  1794)  on  the  utility  of  party 
politics:  "I  am  of  opinion,"  he  says — "I  hope  not 
from  mere  obstinacy — that  Party  is  far  the  best  system, 
if  not  the  only  one,  for  supporting  the  cause  of  liberty 
in  this  country.  I  am  convinced  that  this  system,  and 
this  alone,  has  prevented  Great  Britain  from  falling 
into  what  Hume  calls  the  euthanasia  of  absolute 
Monarchy.  .  .  .  The  master  of  this  house,  the  Duke 
of  Bedford,  Guildford,  and  Derby,  and  some  others, 
with  myself,  make  undoubtedly  a  small  basis  ;  but  then 
how  glorious  it  would  be  from  such  small  beginnings 
to  grow  into  a  real  strong  party  such  as  we  once 
were." 2 

There  is  a  ring  of  pathos  about  the  concluding  sen- 
tence which  shows  a  determined  hopefulness  in  the  face 
of  mighty  odds.  As  a  result  of  the  defection  of  so 
many  of  his  old  friends,  he  wrote  more  persistently 
to  beg  for  Coke's  support — for  and  against  measures 
brought  forward  in  the  House. 

On  January  5th,  1795,  Sheridan  moved  for  leave  to 
bring  in  a  bill  to  repeal  the  Act  of  the  last  session,  the 

1  Ralph  Dutton,  Mrs.  Coke's  brother. 

2  The  Life  and  Times  of  Charles  James  Fox,  by  Earl  Russell  (1866), 
Vol.  Ill,  p.  68-9. 


416  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1795 
Suspension  of  the  Habeas  Corpus,  and  Fox  wrote  to 
beg  the  assistance  of  both  Coke  and  his  brother.  Coke 
was  then  in  town  ;  none  the  less,  Fox  seemed  to  fear 
that  he  would  not  be  present  for  the  division,  for  writing 
again  more  urgently,  Fox  pointed  out  the  importance 
of  the  measures  and  reiterated — "  Unwilling  as  I  am  to 
trouble  you,  I  cannot  help  very  earnestly  desiring  you 
to  come." 

This  bill,  which  was  opposed  by  the  apostate  Wind- 
ham and  discussed  at  length  by  Lord  Erskine,  was 
thrown  out.  Against  the  Salt  and  Husbandry  Tax,  Fox 
also  requested  Coke's  support,  and  when  the  Treason- 
able Practices  Bill  and  the  Seditious  Meetings  Bill 
came  on  he  wrote  to  beg  Coke  to  come  up  specially  from 
Holkham.  "  I  should  be  very  sorry  if  these  bills  were 
to  go  without  a  vote  of  yours  against  them,"  he  ex- 
plains. In  the  celebrated  motion  of  Fox  censuring  the 
Ministers  for  having  unconstitutionally  advanced  money 
to  the  Emperor  of  Germany  and  the  Prince  Conde,  Coke 
again  upheld  him  ;  and  Fox,  in  return,  gave  Coke  his 
aid  when  the  latter  carried  into  law  a  bill,  in  which  they 
were  both  interested,  for  extending  the  legal  time  of 
shooting. 

But  to  one  matter,  which  was  dear  to  Fox's  heart, 
Coke  refused  his  countenance.  In  September  1795 
Fox  married  Mrs.  Armistead,  with  whom  he  had  lived 
for  many  years  ;  but  great  as  was  Coke's  friendship  for 
Fox,  he  always  refused  to  receive  Mrs.  Fox  at  Holkham. 
Lord  John  Russell  says:  "  His  (Fox's)  life  from  his 
youth  had  been  one  of  loose  morality.  Even  now  he 
seems  to  have  been  ashamed  to  avow  to  his  friends  and 
to  the  world  that  he  was  able  to  call  an  affectionate  and 


1795]         CHARITY,  AND  A  WEDDING  417 

faithful  woman  his  wife.  Hence  Mr.  Coke,  his  steady- 
adherent,  while  he  every  year  gladly  received  Fox  at 
Holkham,  refused  to  admit  Mrs.  Fox  into  his  house." 
Although  Mrs.  Fox  stayed  at  Woburn,  at  Mr.  Whit- 
bread's,  at  Lord  Robert  Spencer's  and  at  the  houses  of 
most  of  his  friends,  and  although  Coke  must  have  met 
her  often  at  St.  Ann's  Hill,  yet  he  never  acknowledged 
her  existence  other  than  by  forwarding  to  her  ample 
presents  of  Holkham  game,  or  by  putting  a  formal 
inquiry  respecting  her  health  at  the  end  of  his  letters 
to  Fox ;  to  which  Fox  replied  with  an  equally  polite 
acknowledgment. 


I. — 2  E 


[i794 


CHAPTER  XIX 

A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT 
i 794- i 800 
JEtat  40-46 

IN  the  year  of  Fox's  marriage,  another  wedding 
took  place  of  less  happy  omen.  Rumour, 
which  had  so  often  prophesied  a  separation 
between  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  Mrs.  Fitz- 
herbert,  had  been  particularly  active  with  regard  to 
this  matter  during  the  year  1794.  "  Princess  Fitz,"  as 
she  was  facetiously  called,  was,  gossip  reported,  about 
to  be  deserted  for  some  German  wife  of  the  King's 
choosing.  Under  the  circumstances,  Coke — not  only 
on  account  of  his  intimacy  with  the  Prince,  but  on 
account  of  his  friendship  with  Lord  Moira,  the  Prince's 
confidant — was  constantly  applied  to  as  an  authority  for 
correct  information.  On  July  15th,  1794,  Lord  Morning- 
ton  wrote  triumphantly  from  Brighton  to  Lord  Grenville : 

"  I  heard  last  night  from  no  less  an  authority  than 
Tom  the  Third  [Coke]  that  a  treaty  of  separation 
and  provision  is  on  foot  (if  not  already  concluded) 
between  his  Royal  Highness  and  the  late  '  Princess 
Fitz.'  I  think  you  ought  to  marry  his  Royal  High- 
ness to  some  frow  immediately  ;  and  I  am  told  (by 
the  same  eminent  authority)  that  he  is  very  well  dis- 
posed to  take  such  a  wife,  as  it  may  be  his  Majesty's 
pleasure  to  provide  for  him."1 

1  Fortescue  MSS.,  Historical  MSS.  Com.,  Vol.  XL 
418 


1794]  A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT  419 

Coke's  information  proved  correct.  The  Prince,  in 
order  once  more  to  secure  payment  of  his  debts, 
deserted  Mrs.  Fitzherbert  with  as  little  scruple  as  he 
had  before  exposed  her  to  public  dishonour  with  the 
same  object  in  view.  On  April  8th,  1795,  he  was 
married  to  his  cousin,  the  Princess  Caroline  of  Bruns- 
wick— a  wedding  which  was  succeeded  by  a  separation 
immediately  after  the  birth  of  the  Princess  Charlotte  of 
Wales,  on  January  7th,  of  the  following  year. 

The  month  after  this  event  Coke  dined  at  the 
Speaker's.  The  rule  was  for  the  Speaker  to  give  a 
dinner  upon  the  first  Saturday  of  the  session  to  the 
Ministers  and  their  friends  in  office,  who  were  Members 
of  the  House  of  Commons.  The  first  Sunday  was 
reserved  for  the  Opposition ;  afterwards  his  parties 
were  promiscuous,  consisting  chiefly  of  his  private 
friends  and  those  who  attended  his  levees  on  Sunday 
evenings.  At  the  Ministerial  dinner  that  year  there 
were  twenty-three  present ;  at  the  Opposition  dinner 
three  persons  appeared  neither  in  full  dress,  nor  pow- 
dered, viz.  Grey,  Whitbread  and  General  Tarleton ;  but 
Fox  was  in  full  dress  and  powdered. 

At  the  dinner  when  Coke  was  present,  the  party, 
which  numbered  twenty,  dined  in  a  vaulted  chamber, 
an  ancient  crypt  of  St.  Stephen's  Church.  They  were 
served  on  plate  bearing  the  King's  arms,  and  were 
waited  on  by  three  men  out  of  livery  and  four  men  in 
full  liveries  and  bag-wigs.  All  the  guests  on  that 
occasion  wore  Court  dress,  including  the  Speaker, 
except  that  he  wore  no  sword.    Charles  Abbot,1  after- 

1  Charles  Abbot  (1757-1829),  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
1 80 1  ;  created  Baron  Colchester  1817. 


420  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1795 

wards  Lord  Colchester,  who  was  one  of  the  guests, 
relates  that:  "The  style  of  the  dinner  was  soups  at 
top  and  bottom,  changed  for  fish,  and  afterwards 
changed  for  roast  saddle  of  mutton  and  roast  loin  of 
veal.  The  middle  of  the  table  was  filled  with  a  painted 
plateau  ornamented  with  French  white  figures  and 
vases  of  flowers.  Along  each  side  were  five  dishes,  the 
middle  centres  being  a  ham  and  boiled  chicken.  The 
second  course  had  a  pig  at  top,  a  capon  at  bottom  and 
the  two  centre  middles  were  a  turkey  and  a  larded 
guinea-fowl.  The  other  dishes — puddings,  pies,  puffs, 
blancmanges,  etc.  The  wine  at  the  corners  was  in  ice- 
pails  during  the  dinner.  Burgundy,  champagne,  hock, 
and  hermitage.  The  dessert  was  served  by  drawing  the 
napkins  and  leaving  the  cloth  on.  Ices  at  top  and 
bottom ;  the  rest  of  the  dessert,  oranges,  apples, 
ginger,  wafers,  etc.  Sweet  wine  was  served  with  it. 
After  the  cloth  was  drawn  a  plate  of  thin  biscuits  was 
placed  at  each  end  of  the  table  and  the  wine  sent 
round,  viz.  :  claret,  port,  madeira,  and  sherry.  Only 
one  toast  was  given — '  The  King.'  The  room  was 
lighted  by  patent  lamps  on  the  chimney  and  upon  the 
side  tables.  The  dinner  table  had  a  double  branch  at 
top  and  bottom,  and  on  each  side  of  the  middle  of  the 
table.  Coffee  and  tea  were  served  on  waiters  at  eight 
o'clock.  The  company  gradually  went  out  of  the  room, 
and  the  whole  broke  up  at  nine."1 

The  great  subject  of  conversation  at  this  dinner  party 
was  the  strained  relations  between  the  Prince  and  his 
wife.  The  general  impression  at  that  date  was  that  the 
alienation  would  prove  temporary,  and  that  in  the  inter- 

1  Diary  and  Correspondence  of  Lord  Colchester,  Vol.  I,  pp.  34-35. 


1796]  A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT  421 

ests  of  the  State  the  Prince  would  be  induced  to  conquer 
his  dislike  to  the  unfortunate  Princess.  Coke,  aware 
of  the  wilfulness  of  the  Prince's  disposition,  was  less 
sanguine — a  view  which  was  shared  by  his  friend 
Francis,  Duke  of  Bedford,  who  was  always  said  to  be 
in  love  with  Mrs.  Fitzherbert. 

In  May,  1796,  Fox  brought  forward  his  famous 
motion  on  the  conduct  of  the  war  with  France,  when 
he  again  wrote  to  ask  for  Coke's  support.  Later  in 
this  month  Coke  was  canvassing  for  re-election  as 
Knight  of  the  Shire. 

This  was  the  fourth  election  in  which  he  had  stood 
for  the  county  of  Norfolk,  and  these  contests,  as  has 
already  been  shown,  were  extremely  ruinous.  The 
expense  of  bringing  voters  from  a  distance  in  those 
days  was  very  great,  and  the  drink  consumed  during 
the  poll  was  a  considerable  item.  Had  he  accepted  a 
peerage,  it  would  have  saved  him  half  a  million  of 
money,  for  in  the  course  of  his  political  life  he  spent 
more  than  this  sum  on  his  electioneering  expenses. 
He  possessed  a  large  landed  property  near  Manchester, 
which  had  been  purchased  originally  by  the  Lord  Chief 
Justice,  and  this  he  sold  to  defray  some  of  those  ex- 
penses, parting  with  it,  of  course,  at  a  fraction  of  what 
its  modern  value  would  have  represented. 

His  efforts  on  behalf  of  the  county  were  commemor- 
ated by  a  song  which  used  to  be  sung  by  the  farmers 
on  the  estate,  the  refrain  of  which  ran  as  follows  : — 

Squire  Coke  went  to  Lunnon  to  kick  up  a  fuss  ; 
He'd  best  stay  at  home  and  grow  tur-r-nips  with  ous  ! 

Yet  they  tried  to  sympathise  with  what  they  recog- 


422   COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1796 

nised  to  be  his  endeavour  to  represent  their  grievances 
in  Parliament.  The  well-known  coach-and-four,  with 
the  postillions  dressed  in  blue  and  buff,  and  the  horses 
decorated  to  match,  in  which  he  drove  about  the  county 
on  his  electioneering  campaigns,  was  sure  of  a  wel- 
come, even  in  districts  which  were  disaffected  to  the 
Whig  cause.  But  on  one  occasion,  when  he  was  re- 
turning from  canvassing  a  part  of  the  county  supposed 
to  be  antagonistic  to  him,  a  number  of  sympathetic 
tenants,  afraid  lest  he  had  been  disheartened,  lay  in 
wait  for  him  outside  the  park  gates,  and  as  his  coach 
approached,  the  spokesman  of  the  party  shouted  re- 
assuringly, " Never  ye  mind,  Coke,  lad:  we'll  gieyeour 
vote  ! "  Whereupon  the  whole  party  insisted  on  stop- 
ping the  coach  and  shaking  him  by  the  hand  in  order 
to  put  heart  into  him. 

Another  time,  when  he  was  canvassing  in  a  neigh- 
bourhood where  politics  were  of  a  mixed  character,  he 
came  across  a  party  of  rustic  politicians,  who,  arguing 
hotly,  were  also  staking  whatever  pence  their  means 
allowed  on  the  immediate  success  or  failure  of  the  Whig 
cause.  As  he  appeared,  one  of  his  postillions,  who 
always  accompanied  him  on  his  electioneering  cam- 
paigns, came  hurrying  towards  him  from  the  group, 
scarlet  in  the  face  with  excitement,  and  explained 
naively,  "  Oh,  sir,  such  a  thing  !  I've  only  got  pence 
on  me.  Will  you,  sir,  lend  me  a  shilling  till  we  get 
home,  or  they'll  think  me  a  Jacobin  ! "  Evidently  the 
prestige  of  his  master  and  of  the  Whig  cause  would 
have  been  lowered  if  he,  of  all  people,  had  failed  to 
produce  a  sum  adequate  to  the  great  issue  at  stake. 

In  those  days  to  secure  success  at  an  election  many  a 


1796]  A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT  423 

stratagem  was  resorted  to  which  would  now  be  thought 
incredible.  It  is  said  that  on  one  occasion  Coke's  parti- 
sans planned  to  make  the  Tory  freeholders  drunk  at 
his  expense,  intending  when  they  were  past  scenting 
danger,  to  lure  them  on  board  a  ship  and  keep  the  ship 
out  at  sea  till  the  polling  was  over.  The  Tory  free- 
holders fell  in  readily  with  the  first  part  of  the  pro- 
gramme, and  feasted  royally  at  the  cost  of  the  Whigs  ; 
but  when  the  second  part  of  the  scheme  was  about  to 
be  put  into  execution,  even  their  muddled  wits  became 
suspicious,  and  no  plausible  pretext  could  induce  them 
to  embark  on  the  proposed  trial  trip.  This  triumph  of 
intelligence  on  their  part  was  afterwards  celebrated  by 
them  in  a  song,  the  exultant  chorus  of  which  ran — 

The  Norfolk  Freeholders  ain't  going  to  sea 
Though  a  dozen  old  women  put  drink  in  their  tea ! 

That  surnames,  to  which  any  meaning  could  be 
attached,  should  afford  great  scope  for  wit  in  elec- 
tioneering times,  was  only  to  be  expected.  The  name 
Coke,  as  is  well  known,  is  pronounced  Cook,  and  a 
ridiculous  legend  runs  that  it  was  always  called  Coke, 
till  coal  was  found  upon  the  Derbyshire  estate,  when 
its  present  pronunciation  was  hurriedly  adopted,  in 
view  of  the  painful  facility  for  Tory  gibes  which  the 
older  pronunciation  would  thenceforward  afford.  It 
is  doubtful  whether  such  a  change  could  ever  have 
recommended  itself  for  such  a  reason  ;  yet  Coke  and 
his  friend  and  neighbour,  Lord  Albemarle,  were  fellow- 
sufferers  in  this  respect,  though  perhaps  Lord 
Albemarle  was  peculiarly  unfortunate,  as  his  some- 
what lugubrious  title  of  Bury  offered  special  tempta- 


424  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1796 

tion  to  local  wags.  Coke  used  to  tell  a  good  story 
that,  upon  one  occasion  when  he  was  standing  for 
election  with  Lord  Albemarle,  the  latter  was  inter- 
rupted upon  the  hustings  by  a  would-be  wag  in  the 
audience  :  "  Is  thy  name  Bury?"  asked  the  wag.  "  It 
is,"  replied  Lord  Albemarle;  ' '  have  you  any  objec- 
tions?" "Well,  it  has  a  churchyard  sound,"  com- 
plained the  wag.  "Quite  so,"  said  Lord  Albemarle; 
"  I  have  come  to  bury  the  other  side!  1,1 

But  in  Norwich  a  story  is  remembered  in  which  Coke 
did  not  come  off  so  well  as  did  Lord  Albemarle  on  the 
above  occasion.  Previous  to  the  Election  of  1796 
Coke  was  walking  down  the  park  one  day  at  Holkham 
with  Lord  Ormonde  (Hereditary  Chief  Butler  of 
Ireland),  when  they  saw  coming  towards  them  a  sweep, 
well  known  to  be  a  rabid  Tory,  who  at  that  moment 
was  so  extremely  black  that  Coke  could  not  resist 
inquiring  facetiously  from  him  as  he  passed:  "How 
he  had  left  his  father,  the  Devil  ?  "  The  sweep  showed 
some  gleaming  white  teeth  and  replied  grimly:  "  He'll 
be  better  soon — he's  wanting  a  Cook  and  Butler!" 

For  many  years  in  Parliament  there  had  been  three 
Members  of  the  name  of  Coke,  viz.  T.  W.  Coke,  M.P. 
for  Norfolk;  Edward  Coke,  of  Longford,  his  brother, 
M.P.  for  Derby;  and  Mr.  Daniel  Parker  Coke,  many 
years  M.P.  for  Nottingham.  In  order  to  distinguish 
which  Member  was  being  quoted  in  the  record  of 
parliamentary  speeches,  Coke  was  always  referred  to  as 
"Mr.    Coke  of    Norfolk."    This  name,    used  first 

1  I  have  heard  this  story  told  as  belonging  to  modern  times.  Possibly 
history  repeats  itself,  but  it  was  William  Charles,  Lord  Albemarle,  of 

whom  Coke  used  to  relate  it. 


1796]  A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT  425 

merely  for  purposes  of  identification,  afterwards 
became  a  title  of  honour,  and  "  Coke  of  Norfolk" 
was  a  name  which,  as  its  owner's  fame  grew,  was  only- 
replaced  by  that  of  "  the  great  Coke  of  Norfolk."  Yet 
some  there  were  who,  while  familiar  with  the  name, 
remained  ignorant  of  the  causes  to  which  it  was  to  be 
ascribed,  and  thus,  on  one  occasion,  Coke  profited  by 
the  dual  interpretation  which  his  patronymic  afforded. 
He  was  journeying  through  a  district  where  he  was 
unknown,  and  at  an  inn  where  he  had  prearranged  to 
stop  for  refreshment  he  was,  to  his  surprise,  served 
with  dinner,  which  in  the  number  of  its  courses  and 
the  excellence  of  its  cooking  rivalled  the  banquet 
ordered  years  before  at  the  village  of  Bawdeswell  by 
old  Lady  Leicester.  Somewhat  mystified  at  the 
magnificence  of  the  repast,  he  inquired  the  cause : 
"Ah,"  responded  his  informant  slyly,  "you  see  we 
were  warned  that  the  Great  Cook  of  Norfolk  was 
about  to  honour  us  with  a  visit,  so  we  did  not  wish 
to  be  outdone  ! " 

George,  Lord  Albemarle,  tells  an  amusing  story  of 
Betty  Radcliffe,  the  landlady  of  the  Bell  Inn,  Thetford, 
which  probably  belongs  to  the  year  1796.  "  Betty," 
he  explains,  "  wore  a  high  cap,  like  that  in  which  Mrs. 
Gamp  is  seen  in  Dickens'  novels  ;  and  a  flaxen  wig, 
which  she  appeared  to  have  outgrown,  for  it  ill  con- 
cealed her  grey  hairs.  Being  the  sole  proprietress 
of  post-horses  in  Norfolk,  she  assumed  an  independent 
demeanour  and  language,  to  which  everyone  was  com- 
pelled to  submit.  Prior  to  one  of  those  ruinous  election 
contests  in  which  Messrs.  Coke  and  Wodehouse  (after- 
wards Lords  Leicester  and  Wodehouse)  engaged,  the 


426  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1796 

former  said  to  Betty  :  "I  want  all  your  post-horses  for 
the  next  fortnight."  Betty  gave  Mr.  Coke  a  knowing 
wink  and  said  :  "I  dare  saa  you  do,  but  cub  baw 
[come,  boy]  along  wi'  me.  What  do  you  see  painted 
on  that  board  ?  "  "  1  The  Bell,'  of  course."  "  And  on 
the  other  side  ?  "  "  1  The  Bell,'  too  !  "  "  Just  so,"  said 
Betty.  "  Don't  you  see  that  my  sign  is  painted  o'  both 
sides?  You  shall  have  half  my  horses,  but  Wuddus 
[Wodehouse]  the  other  half."1 

It  is  often  difficult  to  assign  a  date  to  any  particular 
electioneering  ditties,  as,  if  popular,  they  did  duty,  with 
appropriate  alterations,  for  more  than  one  year's  can- 
vassing ;  but  one  Bacchanalian  ditty,  which  was  long 
a  favourite  in  Norfolk,  first  saw  daylight  in  the  year 
1796 — the  year  when  Jane  Coke  married  Lord  Andover, 
although  the  wedding  did  not  take  place  till  after  the 
election,  and  the  name  thus  bestowed  upon  her  was 
premature.  There  are  seven  long  verses,  three  of 
which  run  as  follows  : — 

I  can't  for  my  life  think  it  anyway  fit 
That  you  should  be  toasting  each  high-titled  man  ; 
What  have  we  sons  of  Norfolk  to  do  with  Bill  Pitt? 
Or  yet  with  Charles  Fox — that  illustrious  Statesman  ? 
Fill  a  bumper,  my  host,  and  I'll  give  you  my  Toast, 
On  whom  Norfolk's  Yeomanry  joyously  look. 
Fill  up  to  the  top  on't, 
And  drink  every  drop  on't, 

And  cherish  your  hearts  with  a  bumper  to  Coke  ! 
Chorus. 

Then  fill  high  your  glass,  and  around  let  it  pass, 
Your  wine  will  gain  relish  by  drinking  to  Coke  ! 

1  Fifty  Years  of  My  Life,  by  George  Thomas,  Earl  of  Albemarle(i876), 
Vol.  I,  p.  314. 


1796]  A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT  427 

The  landlord  so  good,  and  the  friend  so  sincere, 
The  generous  heart  that  with  kindness  o'erflows, 
He  who  wipes  from  the  moist  eye  of  mis'ry  its  tear, 
Whose  soul  neither  av'rice  nor  haughtiness  knows  ; 
Whose  liberal  hand  doth  with  bounty  expand, 
Who  the  mite  from  the  widow  or  orphan  ne'er  took, 
With  that  true  manly  pride, 
That's  to  virtue  allied, 

Such  a  soul  is  still  found  in  the  bosom  of  Coke  ! 
Chorus. 

Then  replenish  the  bowl  for  each  honest,  true  soul, 
And  toss  off  a  bumper  to  Freedom  and  Coke ! 

The  damsels  of  Norfolk  our  triumph  to  grace,  too, 
For  Coke  and  for  Freedom  their  charms  will  display  ; 
See  Andover  comes  with  her  beautiful  face,  too, 
And  lovely  blue  eyes  that  might  rival  the  day. 
That  Norfolk  for  lasses,  each  county  surpasses 
By  their  sweet  selves  I  swear,  and  their  lips  be  the  book  ; 
Thus  wine  our  hearts  firing,  and  Beauty  inspiring, 
First  drink  to  the  Ladies,  and  then  drink  to  Coke  ! 

The  Holkham  freeholders  were  very  proud  of  the 
beauty  of  Coke's  eldest  daughter,  and  when  during 
the  election  her  engagement  became  known,  the  news 
was  received  with  universal  interest  and  satisfaction. 
Now  nineteen,  she  had  become  celebrated  in  society 
for  her  beauty.  During  the  last  two  years  her  likeness 
to  her  mother  had  become  accentuated  ;  as  she  had  lost 
the  plumpness  which  had  belonged  to  her  schoolroom 
days,  her  features  had  acquired  the  peculiar  delicacy  of 
outline  for  which  Mrs.  Coke  was  distinguished,  and 
although  her  figure  is  said  to  have  been  less  fine  than 
her  mother's,  she  was  none  the  less  renowned  for  her 
gracefulness  and  her  beautiful  dancing.    Some  years 


428  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1796 

afterwards,  when  it  was  put  to  the  question  at  a  large 
dinner  at  the  Pavilion,  who  was  the  handsomest  woman 
in  England,  the  Regent  gave  it  as  his  opinion — "  With- 
out doubt,  Lady  Andover." 

Her  attachment  for  Lord  Andover  had  been  of  some 
duration,  but  he  was  poor  and  Coke  objected  to  the 
marriage.  Lady  Suffolk,  much  affronted,  inquired, ' '  And 
pray,  sir,  does  the  blood  of  all  the  Howards  count  for 
nothing?"  "  Madam,"  was  Coke's  answer,  "I  count 
my  blood  as  good  as  the  blood  of  all  the  Howards." 

Apart  from  the  pecuniary  objection,  none  existed, 
and  Coke  at  length  gave  his  consent.  Lord  Andover, 
who  was  a  year  older  than  Jane  Coke,  was  clever,  good- 
looking  and  extremely  attractive.  He  had  greatly  dis- 
tinguished himself  at  college,  and  when  the  marriage 
at  last  took  place  on  June  27th,  the  Dean  of  Christ- 
church,  who  had  a  great  affection  for  him,  journeyed 
all  the  way  from  Oxford  to  Holkham  to  perform  the 
ceremony. 

Before  that  date,  however,  on  June  1st,  Coke  and  Sir 
J.  Wodehouse — no  doubt  with  the  aid  of  Betty  Rad- 
cliffe's  post-horses — were  both  elected  without  oppo- 
sition for  the  county. 

Politically,  England  was  approaching  a  disagreeable 
crisis.  The  prospect  of  a  more  permanent  Government 
in  France  had  appeared,  for  a  time,  to  give  hopes  of 
that  peace  for  which  Pitt  was  now  avowedly  anxious. 
In  the  autumn  of  1796,  Lord  Malmesbury  was  dispatched 
to  Paris  to  enter  into  negotiations  with  a  view  to  this 
conclusion ;  but  France  refused  to  come  to  terms,  and  he 
was  requested  to  leave  Paris  within  forty-eight  hours. 


1796]  A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT  429 

Already  the  star  of  Napoleon  was  in  the  ascendant, 
and  as  a  young  and  victorious  general  he  was  attract- 
ing the  attention  of  Europe.  The  fear,  therefore,  of 
invasion  from  abroad,  the  heavy  taxation  entailed  upon 
the  country,  the  terrible  financial  distress,  aggravated 
by  a  succession  of  poor  harvests,  and  by  mutinies  in  the 
navy  which  threatened  our  maritime  power,  all  combined 
to  render  the  position  of  the  country  extremely  serious. 

Parr's  comments  to  Coke  upon  the  "  Heaven-born 
Minister,"  Pitt,  waxed  yet  more  scathing  : — 

"  I  am  not  so  keen-sighted  as  some  of  my  brethren 
in  the  Doctrine  of  Original  Sin  among  the  natives  of 
the  earth  ;  but  if  Pitt  was  born  in  Heaven  I  should 
have  no  great  reliance  in  the  efficacy  of  original 
righteousness  among  the  natives  of  these  higher 
abodes — the  Devil,  it  is  said,  was  born  in  Heaven, 
and  we  know  where  he  now  resides.  Pitt  may  be 
his  Minister  and  Hoadley1  may  be  his  chaplain,  but 
I  have  no  ambition  to  keep  company  with  them  ! " 

In  April,  1797,  a  county  meeting  was  held  in  the 
open  air,  on  the  Castle  Hill,  in  Norwich,  which  was 
attended  by  Coke  and  Lord  Albemarle,  and  by  repre- 
sentatives from  most  of  the  great  Whig  houses,  when 
a  petition  was  moved  by  Mr.  Fellows  praying  His 
Majesty  to  dismiss  his  present  Ministers  as  the  most 
effectual  means  of  reviving  the  national  credit  and 
restoring  peace.  This  was  almost  universally  adopted. 
Later  in  the  year,  Coke  was  warned  that  by  thus  con- 
tumaciously opposing  those  in  power  he  was  sacrificing 
his  popularity.    His  reply  was  decisive  : — 

"  I  shall  not  hesitate  in  so  doing,"  he  wrote  in  the 
month  of  September ;  "  those  who  are  with  us  upon 

1  Hoadley,  chaplain  to  the  Regent. 


430  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1797 

principle  are  not  to  be  shaken  ;  those  who  are  against 
us  will  do  all  the  mischief  they  can  whensoever  an 
opportunity  occurs.  I  was  brought  up  to  those 
sentiments — to  attach  myself  to  my  friends,  and  to 
disregard  my  enemies,  and  not  to  betray  those  who 
had  placed  confidence  in  me,  by  bargain  and  sale  !  " 

Throughout  that  month  Fox  remained  at  Holkham. 
"  Mr.  Fox  has  been  here  since  the  commencement  of 
the  sporting  season  and  stays  till  ye  6th  or  7th  of 
October,"  Coke  wrote  ;  but  when  Parliament  reas- 
sembled, Fox  and  Coke,  in  conjunction  with  Grey, 
Sheridan  and  Whitbread,  absented  themselves  from 
the  House.  There  was  no  hope,  Coke  agreed  with 
Fox,  of  awakening  the  nation  to  a  sense  of  its  real 
condition,  and  all  power  of  serving  the  country  or  his 
constituents  by  attendance  in  Parliament  was  rendered 
impossible,  when  the  Minister,  by  undue  influence,  had 
secured  for  himself  a  majority  which  carried  everything 
as  he  wished.1 

On  December  4th  Pitt  introduced  a  bill  for  trebling 
the  amount  of  the  Assessed  Taxes.  This  appeared  to 
Fox  to  call  for  strenuous  opposition,  and  he  wrote  from 
town  requesting  Coke's  attendance  in  the  House.  "  If 
the  increase  of  the  Assessed  Taxes  should  be  as  much 
disliked  in  Norfolk  as  it  is  here,"  he  suggested,  "  I  think 
you  ought  to  come  up  to  give  one  vote  against  them. 
I  shall  come  up  for  it,  of  course.  The  dislike  to  the 
measure  here  is  very  strong  indeed,  and  nearly  univer- 
sal.— Thanks  for  your  game  last  Friday  !  " 

As  a  result  of  this  letter,  on  the  14th  of  December, 
when  the  second  reading  of  the  Assessed  Taxes  Bill 

1  Diary  and  Correspondence  of  Charles  Abbot,  first  Baron  Colchester, 
ed.  C.  Lord  Colchester  (1861),  Vol.  I,  p.  122. 


1798]  A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT  431 

was  to  take  place,  Fox,  Sheridan  and  Coke  again  made 
their  appearance  in  the  House.  As  they  passed  through 
the  lobby,  which  was  full  of  strangers,  they  were 
greeted  by  a  great  burst  of  applause  and  clapping  of 
hands.  Fox  made  a  long  speech  ;  but  the  Ayes  on  the 
motion  for  the  second  reading  of  the  bill  were  175 
against  Noes  50. 1 

Meanwhile  the  fear  of  invasion  from  abroad  was 
hourly  increasing  throughout  England.  The  alarm 
reached  a  climax  in  May,  1798,  when  Napoleon, 
keeping  his  destination  a  profound  secret,  prepared 
to  sail  with  his  troops  from  Toulon  on  the  19th. 
Eventually  it  was  discovered  that  he  was  intend- 
ing a  campaign  in  Egypt,  but  the  impression  in 
England  was  that  his  designs  were  directed  against 
this  country,  and  while  his  preparations  for  depar- 
ture were  going  on  in  France,  equally  rapid  prepara- 
tions were  being  made  in  England  for  his  expected 
arrival.  Piles  of  faggots  were  ready  to  be  fired  in 
warning  of  his  approach  by  night,  and  red  flags 
were  sent  to  each  parish  to  be  hoisted  on  the  church 
steeples  as  a  signal  of  his  approach  by  day.  In  many 
rural  districts  active  steps  were  taken  towards  strength- 
ening the  national  means  of  defence ;  and  Coke,  although 
at  no  time  does  he  appear  to  have  entertained  fears  of 
Napoleon's  arrival  in  England,  so  far  yielded  to  the 
general  panic,  that  he  approached  his  old  friend  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  with  a  view  to  strengthening  the  means 
of  defence  on  the  Norfolk  coast. 

By  now  a  friendly  footing  had  been  re-established 

1  It  was  again  debated  in  the  Commons  January,  1798,  and  finally 
passed. 


432  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1798 


between  the  Prince,  Fox  and  Coke,  for  the  space  of 
about  ten  years.  Annually  the  Prince  had  visited 
Holkham,  even  during  the  year  of  his  unfortunate 
marriage ;  and  whatever  opinion  Coke  entertained, 
privately,  of  the  Prince's  character,  the  Prince  was  the 
avowed  friend  of  his  party,  and  their  outward  relations 
were  cordial. 

Thomas  William  Coke  to  the  Prince  of  Wales, 

"Sir,  "May  6th,  1798. 

"  I  hope  your  Royal  Highness  will  excuse  my 
Presumption  in  writing  this  letter,  and  if,  in  the  request 
I  am  going  to  make,  I  trespass  against  the  rules  of 
etiquette,  I  entreat  your  Royal  Highness  to  pardon 
my  transgression,  which  must  be  ascribed  to  my 
entire  ignorance  in  these  respects. 

"  Feeling  eager  to  show  my  zeal  in  defence  of  my 
King  and  Country  at  this  alarming  crisis  (however  I 
may  distrust  Mr.  Pitt  and  his  measures,  which  have 
produced  the  dangers  which  threaten  the  British 
Empire),  I  think  the  best  service  I  can  render  is  by 
raising  a  Squadron  of  Horse,  of  the  most  respectable 
Yeomanry  in  this  neighbourhood  ;  and  I  have  to 
request  your  Royal  Highness's  permission  that  we 
may  wear  the  colours  of  ye  10th  for  our  Uniform,  and 
that  your  Royal  Highness  would  have  the  Condescen- 
sion to  order  two  soldiers  from  that  Regiment  to  drill 
us  ;  and  it  shall  be  our  study  to  show  ourselves  not 
undeserving  these  favours  by  our  unremitting  en- 
deavours to  profit  by  their  instructions,  of  which  I 
hope  your  Royal  Highness  will  have  the  opportunity 
of  judging  by  honouring  Holkham  with  your  presence 
in  the  autumn.  I  have  the  satisfaction  to  assure  your 
Royal  Highness  from  every  enquiry  I  have  been  able 
to  make,  all  descriptions  of  people,  from  the  biggest 
to  the  lowest,  are  equally  zealous  to  exert  their 
utmost  powers  to  repel  the  French  and  to  fight  to 
the  last  gasp  in  defence  of  their  King  and  Country. 


'798]  A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT  433 

"  Military  operations  are  forming  in  every  part  of 
this  County,  the  Merchants  and  inhabitants  of  Lynn 
and  Wells  are  arming  all  their  small  craft  as  expe- 
ditiously as  possible,  which  is  a  very  wise  measure, 
as  the  object  is  to  prevent  the  landing  of  the  enemy 
in  such  ships  as  they  must  make  such  an  attempt  in, 
with  any  prospect  of  success,  on  our  flat  shores. 

"  I  am  happy  to  think  an  united  people  have  little 
to  fear  from  an  invading  foe,  and  I  freely  confess  that 
the  hourly  increase  of  the  National  Debt  till  the 
blessings  of  Peace  shall  be  restored,  and  the  deplor- 
able condition  of  Ireland,  are  more  serious  objects  of 
terror  to  me  than  all  the  menaces  of  the  French 
Directory.  That  every  happiness  may  attend  and 
every  evil  be  averted  from  your  Royal  Highness  and 
your  Posterity  is  the  fervent  prayer  of 

"Sir, 

"Your  Royal  Highness's  much  attached  servant, 
"Thomas  William  Coke." 

Apparently,  all  imminent  fear  of  Napoleon's  advent 
having  been  set  at  rest  by  the  discovery  that  Egypt  was 
his  present  destination,  a  certain  delay  occurred  before 
the  Prince  was  able  to  comply  with  Coke's  request,  and 
another  letter  from  Coke  must  have  urged  its  fulfilment, 
occasioning  the  following  correspondence  from  the 
Prince : — 

H.R.H.the  Prince  of  Wales  to  Thomas  William  Coke. 

-My  dear  Coke" ^        ^  ^ 

"I  this  morning  received  your  letter,  and 
immediately  take  up  my  pen  to  answer  it  by  return 
ot  Fost.  I  assure  you  I  have  neither  been  forgetful 
nor  neglectful  as  to  my  not  having  already  sent  you 
a  bergeant  to  drill  and  to  instruct  your  Corps  ;  but 
the  sudden  order  for  the  march  of  my  Regiment  and 

I. — 2  F 


434  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1798 


for  the  immediate  change  of  our  Quarters,  together 
with  the  order  for  our  being  reviewed  by  the  King, 
and  which  is  to  take  place  at  so  early  a  period  as  To- 
morrow Se'nnight,  has  entirely  prevented  my  already 
forestalling  your  wishes ;  I  have  found  you  a  Sergeant, 
whom  I  will  forward  to  Holkham  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible after  the  Review ;  besides  being  a  good  Sergeant, 
he  happens  to  be  one  of  our  best  Rough  Riders, 
and  consequently  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  mode 
of  treating  the  Horses,  as  well  as  drilling  the  Men 
just  as  they  ought  to  be  for  Squadron  duty.  His 
name  is  Holtham,  and  I  think  when  you  see  him  you 
will  be  of  opinion  that  I  do  not  starve  the  Regiment. 

"I  beg  my  very  best  compliments  and  kindest 
remembrance  to  Mrs.  Coke,  and  am,  dear  Coke, 

"  Ever  very  sincerely  yours, 

"  George,  P." 

"  P.S. — I  hope  you  have  a  good  prospect  of  sport, 
and  that  the  Wet  will  not  effect  [sic]  the  Birds,  in 
which  I  confess  I  am  not  a  little  selfish." 

In  July,  Coke  was  appointed  Major  Commandant  of 
the  Holkham  Yeoman  Cavalry,  and  on  the  23rd  the 
Prince  wrote  to  him  again,  still  ignoring  all  the  press- 
ing questions  of  national  import,  but  dwelling  with 
keen  anxiety  on  the  problem  whether  the  Sergeant  he 
was  sending  to  Holkham,  would  or  would  not  indulge 
in  a  failing  to  which  his  Royal  Master  was  unquestion- 
ably addicted. 

"  My  dear  Coke, 

4 'Our  Review  was  over  last  Friday,  and 
Yesterday  I  ordered  Sergeant  Holtham  up  to  town, 
to  take  his  departure  by  this  evening's  stage  for 
Holkham.  I  think  he  will  not  disgrace  the  Regi- 
ment, and  that  he  will  be  diligent  and  conduct 
himself  so  as  to  recommend  himself  to  your  pro- 


1798]  A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT  435 


tection  ;  he  is  honest,  and  good-tempered,  but  apt 
now  and  then  to  drink  more  than  he  should  do,  and 
when  intoxicated  he  forgets  himself  entirely  ;  should 
this  happen,  it  is  best  not  to  say  anything  to  him  till 
he  comes  to  himself,  and  then  no  man  can  be  more 
sensible  of  his  error  than  he  is  ;  he  has  been  per- 
fectly sober  of  late,  but  I  think  it  but  fair  in  recom- 
mending him  to  you  to  state  all  I  know  of  him  to  you. 
Should  he,  which  I  flatter  myself  will  be  the  case, 
conduct  himself  quite  to  your  satisfaction,  perhaps 
you  may  find  the  means  of  procuring  him  in  the 
country  some  permanent  situation  for  the  rest  of  his 
Life,  in  which  case  I  could  give  him  his  discharge, 
as  I  have  done  by  one,  Sergeant  Taylor,  whom  I  lent 
to  Lord  Egremont,  and  for  whom  he  has  procured  a 
permanent  situation  for  Life  in  his  Yeomanry  Corps. 
Should  Holtham  conduct  himself  unworthily,  I  beg 
you  will  make  no  scruple  in  writing  to  me,  and  I  will 
instantly  order  him  back  to  the  Regiment  Bat11.  I 
really  believe  him  to  be  an  excellent  fellow,  and  that 
he  is  perfectly  suited  to  what  you  want  of  him. 

"  In  short,  my  dear  Coke,  it  shall  not  be  my  fault, 
if  from  the  advice  I  have  given,  he  is  not  every- 
thing he  ought  to  be.  My  sincere  wishes  are  that  he 
may  please,  and  when  I  have  the  pleasure  of  paying 
you  a  visit  to  Holkham  in  October,  or  November,  I 
may  have  occuler  [sic]  demonstration  of  his  having 
done  his  duty  by  the  forwardness  in  which  I  shall  find 
your  Men  and  Tenants. 

"  I  beg  my  best  compliments  to  Mrs.  Coke,  and  to 
Ralph,  should  he  be  with  you,  and  am  at  all  times, 
my  dear  Coke,  ever  your  sincere  Friend, 

"George,  P." 

Ralph  Dutton,  Mrs.  Coke's  brother,  to  whom  the 
Prince  desired  to  be  remembered,  was  a  great  favourite 
with  His  Royal  Highness.  His  marriage  was  an 
unusual  romance,  and  occasioned  considerable  amuse- 
ment amongst  his  relations.    His  nephew,  Lord  Sher- 


436  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1798 

borne's  eldest  son,  fell  in  love  with  a  beautiful  Miss 
Honor  Gubbins,  whom  he  met  at  Bath.  She  was  of 
good  family,  but  poor,  and  his  parents  were  anxious 
that  he  should  marry  an  heiress,  Miss  Legge.  Ralph 
Dutton  was  therefore  deputed  to  go  to  Bath  and 
reason  with  his  erring  nephew.  He  did  so,  but  himself 
fell  in  love  with  the  beautiful  Honor  Gubbins,  whom  he 
married  ;  thus  effectually  ending  his  nephew's  romance  ; 
so  that  the  unfortunate  youth  had  to  return  home  and 
marry  Miss  Legge,  his  parents'  choice. 

Ralph,  who  was  constantly  at  Holkham,  both  before 
and  after  his  marriage,  appears  to  have  been  there  in 
1798,  when  the  Prince  paid  his  visit ;  and  it  was  on  this 
occasion  that  a  funny  incident  occurred. 

Staying  in  the  house  at  Holkham,  in  order  to 
examine  some  of  the  historical  works,  was  a  venerable 
Professor.  A  great  historian  and  bookworm,  he  had 
never  had  a  gun  in  his  hand  in  his  life ;  yet  when 
he  saw  the  rest  of  the  party  setting  off  cheerfully 
for  a  day  in  the  covert,  he  so  visibly  regretted  re- 
maining behind,  that  Coke,  with  his  customary  good 
nature,  urged  him  to  accompany  them.  Arrived  at 
their  destination,  however,  Coke  took  the  precaution  to 
place  his  learned  guest  at  a  corner  of  the  covert  where 
he  believed  the  other  sportsmen  would  be  well  out 
of  his  reach.  During  the  course  of  the  morning  he 
heard  a  most  valiant  and  continuous  firing  from  this 
portion  of  the  ground,  and  at  length  becoming  exceed- 
ingly curious  to  know  its  result,  he  made  his  way  back 
to  the  Professor.  "  Well,  what  sport?"  he  inquired. 
"  You  have  been  firing  pretty  frequently  !  "  "  Hush  !  " 
exclaimed  the  Professor  excitedly  ;    "  there  it  goes 


1798]  A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT  437 

again!"  and  he  was  in  the  act  of  raising  his  gun  to  his 
shoulder  to  fire,  when  a  man  walked  very  quietly  from 
the  bushes  about  seventy  yards  in  front  of  him.  It  was 
one  of  the  beaters  who  had  been  set  to  stop  the  phea- 
sants, and  his  leather  gaiters,  dimly  seen  through  the 
bushes,  had  been  mistaken  for  a  hare  by  the  Professor, 
who,  much  surprised  at  the  animal's  extraordinary 
tenacity  of  life,  had  been  firing  at  it  whenever  he  saw  it 
move.  But — and  it  was  this  fact  which,  needless  to 
say,  roused  the  hilarity  of  the  assembled  sportsmen — 
not  once  had  the  beater  discovered  that  the  Professor 
was  shooting  at  him  ! 

Fox,  who  might  possibly,  for  personal  reasons,  have 
seen  less  humour  in  the  incident,  was  not  present  on 
this  occasion.  His  hand  had  been  injured  by  the 
bursting  of  his  own  gun  when  out  shooting,  and  he 
wrote  regretfully  that  he  could  not  come  to  Holkham 
that  autumn  : — 

"  The  doctors  apprehend  that  there  is  yet  more  bone 
to  come  away  from  my  hand,  so  that,  for  this  year, 
I  fear  Norfolk  is  out  of  the  question." 

In  a  later  letter  he  says  : — 

"A  Gentleman,  a  neighbour  of  mine,  who  was 
speaking  with  me  last  Wednesday,  had  a  double- 
barrelled  Gun  burst  in  his  hand,  so  that  double-barrels 
are  more  decried  here  than  ever." 

Two  years  later,  Coke  had  sad  reason  to  endorse 
Fox's  opinion  respecting  the  danger  of  what  was  then 
considered  the  new-fangled  double-barrelled  gun. 

The  year  1799  appears  to  have  passed  unevent- 
fully.   The  only  record  of  it  relates  to  a  visit  paid  by 


438  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [i799 


Coke  in  the  month  of  June  to  Woburn,  where  the  Duke 
of  Bedford  had  for  some  time  emulated  Coke's  example 
and  established  an  agricultural  meeting  on  the  same 
pattern  as  that  first  instituted  at  Holkham.1  On  this 
occasion  there  took  place  a  great  dispute  respecting  the 
rival  merits  of  the  New  Leicester  and  the  Southdown 
sheep,  and  Coke  created  some  excitement  by  offering 
the  Leicestershire  Society  a  bet  of  £500  that  he  would 
stock  one  hundred  acres  with  Southdown  wethers, 
against  another  hundred  acres  to  be  stocked  by  the 
New  Leicester  breeders.  This  offer  was,  no  doubt 
wisely,  declined  by  the  New  Leicester  champions,  so 
that  the  Leicester  sheep  were  considered  to  have 
received  a  severe  blow  to  their  reputation,  which  was 
further  augmented  when  Coke  gave  the  Duke  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  guineas  for  a  Southdown  ram.2  Coke's 
own  Sheep-shearing  at  Holkham  took  place  the  follow- 
ing week,  and  was  succeeded  in  the  autumn  as  usual 
by  a  series  of  shooting  parties.  Coke  had  given  up 
keeping  foxhounds  in  1797,  when  Jones  the  huntsman 
had  been  made  head  of  the  stables ;  but  he  continued 
as  keen  a  shot  as  ever,  and  there  was  seldom  a  week 
during  the  autumn  and  winter  months  when  his  house 
was  not  filled  with  energetic  sportsmen. 

1  It  has  been  stated  that  the  Sheep-shearing-  took  place  alternately  at 
Holkham  and  at  Woburn  ;  but  for  forty-three  years,  during-  the  years  from 
1778  to  1 82 1,  there  appears  to  be  no  break  in  the  annual  meetings  held 
at  Holkham.  By  1813  the  Woburn  Sheep-shearings  were  given  up  on 
account  of  the  expense  (see  Brougham's  Life  and  Times,  Vol.  II,  p.  79), 
but  the  Duke  would  not  state  the  true  reason,  and  his  popularity  suffered 
in  consequence.  In  the  print  of  the  "Woburn  Sheep-shearing"  published 
by  Garrard  in  181 1,  reproduced  in  Vol.  II,  Coke  is  represented  convers- 
ing with  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  Sir  John  Sinclair  and  Arthur  Young,  while 
Professor  Davy  is  standing  in  a  listening  attitude  behind  him. 

2  The  London,  Chronicle  for  1804,  July  3rd~5th. 


i8oo]  A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT  439 

In  January,  1800,  a  large  party,  who  had  assem- 
bled at  Holkham  for  the  New  Year,  were  invited  to 
prolong  their  stay  for  the  series  of  i  shoots '  which  took 
place  during  that  month  ;  and  of  the  number  who  thus 
remained  were  Lord  and  Lady  Andover  and  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Anson.  The  latter  had  brought  their  children 
with  them,  who  were  in  the  nursery  with  their  small 
aunt,  Eliza  Coke ;  but  Lord  and  Lady  Andover, 
although  they  had  been  married  about  four  years,  were 
still  childless.  They  were,  however,  a  most  devoted 
couple :  both  young,  clever  and  congenial  in  all  their 
tastes,  their  marriage  had  been  one  of  unclouded 
happiness  and  affection,  and  they  were  so  absorbed  in 
each  other's  society  that  they  were  still  like  bride  and 
bridegroom. 

On  January  8th  it  had  been  arranged  that  the 
shooters  were  to  start  early  for  their  day's  sport ;  and 
although  there  was  a  sea-fog  that  morning,  it  was  not 
sufficiently  bad  for  them  to  alter  their  programme.  At 
breakfast,  however,  Lord  Andover  announced  that  he 
had  given  up  his  previous  intention  of  going  with  them, 
and  meant  to  remain  at  home.  Being  pressed  for  an 
explanation  of  his  change  of  plans,  he  at  length 
admitted  that  his  wife  had  had  an  unpleasant  dream 
about  him  the  night  before,  and  was  feeling  so  nervous 
that  he  had  decided  to  spend  the  day  with  her. 

Lady  Andover  was  well  known  by  her  family  to  have 
the  most  extraordinary  gift  of  foreseeing  events  in  her 
dreams  ;  so  much  so,  that  her  relations  used  to  beg  her 
not  to  relate  anything  she  had  dreamed  because  they 
dreaded  its  fulfilment.  But  on  the  present  occasion, 
curiosity  was  roused,  and  every  one  at  the  table  was 


44o  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1800 

anxious  to  hear  full  particulars,  until  at  length  Lady 
Andover  related  how  she  had  dreamt  that  while  her 
husband  was  with  the  shooters  his  gun  exploded  and 
he  was  killed.  All  present  listened  to  and  commented 
upon  the  story  ;  some,  naturally,  made  light  of  it,  and 
urged  Lord  Andover  not  to  lose  a  day's  sport  for  such 
an  absurd  reason  ;  but  he  would  not  be  persuaded,  and 
after  breakfast  the  shooters  went  off  without  him. 

He  and  Lady  Andover  thereupon  went  to  the  Land- 
scape Room,  where  they  spent  an  hour  or  more  very 
happily,  she  working  at  a  copy  she  was  painting  of  a 
Poussin,  and  he  reading  Shakespeare  aloud  to  her.  By 
and  by  the  fog  cleared  off,  and  it  came  out  a  most 
glorious  day.  Then  her  heart  smote  her  for  persuading 
Lord  Andover  to  stay  indoors  on  such  a  lovely  morn- 
ing, and  she  felt  as  though  she  were  being  very  selfish. 
In  a  fit  of  compunction  she  begged  him  to  go  out 
shooting,  assuring  him  that  she  no  longer  felt  nervous, 
and  would  think  no  more  about  her  unpleasant  dream. 
He  hesitated,  but  at  last  admitted  that  it  seemed  a  pity 
to  lose  a  day's  sport,  and  said  :  "If  you  will  promise 
me  that  you  really  will  not  be  nervous,  I  should  very 
much  like  to  go."  She  reiterated  that  she  was  no 
longer  nervous,  and  with  this  assurance  he  left  her. 
No  sooner,  however,  had  he  gone,  than  she  bitterly 
regretted  what  she  had  done ;  all  her  fears  returned,  and 
in  a  few  minutes,  unable  to  control  her  forebodings, 
she  rushed  after  him,  hoping  to  stop  him  and  bring 
him  back. 

She  was,  unfortunately,  too  late  ;  Lord  Andover  had 
already  started,  and  rode  away  from  Holkham  never  to 
return.    Accompanied  by  one  servant,  he  went  towards 


i8oo]  A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT  441 

the  farm  at  South  Creake,  about  five  miles  from  Holk- 
ham.  Arrived  there,  he  put  up  the  horses,  and  walked 
on  a  mile  farther  with  his  servant  to  a  common  where 
birds  were  usually  plentiful.  Probably  he  hoped  to 
fall  in  with  the  rest  of  the  party,  but  he  did  not  do  so. 
About  1.30  the  dogs  pointed,  and  he  went  towards 
them,  cocking  his  double-barrelled  gun  ;  but  one  of 
them  sprang  at  the  birds,  and,  wishing  to  correct  the 
animal,  he  called  it  to  him,  handing  his  gun,  ready 
cocked,  to  his  man  who  was  behind  him.  Just  as  he 
was  stooping  to  catch  the  dog,  by  some  unhappy  acci- 
dent the  gun  which  his  man  was  holding  went  off,  and 
lodged  its  whole  contents  in  Lord  Andover's  back  near 
the  shoulder.1 

He  fell  instantly,  and  bled  profusely.  Convinced 
that  he  was  dying,  he  refused  to  allow  the  servant  to 
leave  him  and  go  for  help.  The  horror  of  the  scene 
can  be  imagined,  and  it  was  increased  by  the  intense 
loneliness  of  the  spot  where  the  accident  happened. 
The  common  was  a  mile  from  the  nearest  house,  not  a 
human  being  was  within  sight  or  call,  while  the  un- 
fortunate servant  was  literally  beside  himself  with  terror 
and  distress.  It  soon  became  evident  that  the  shot 
must  have  penetrated  the  vertebras  of  Lord  Andover's 
spine,  probably  in  an  oblique  direction,  as  the  lower 
extremities  became  paralysed.  At  last,  being  in  great 
suffering,  which  was  intensified  by  the  extreme  cold, 
he  consented  that  the  man  should  go  for  assistance. 
The  latter  took  off  his  own  coat  with  which  to  cover 
his  master,  and  leaving  him  lying  helpless  upon  the 

1  One  account  relates  that  the  servant  was  on  horseback,  and  the 
horse  suddenly  swerved. 


442  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1800 

ground  and  apparently  fast  bleeding  to  death,  ran  like 
a  madman  back  to  the  farm.  After  as  little  delay  as 
was  possible,  he  returned  with  the  farmer  in  a  one- 
horsed  chaise.  They  found  Lord  Andover  was  still 
alive,  and  lifted  him  with  difficulty  into  the  bottom  of 
the  chaise,  where  he  lay,  supported  by  the  farmer. 
The  motion  of  driving  over  the  rough  road  increased 
his  bleeding,  and  they  feared  he  would  not  live  to  reach 
the  farm.  His  brain  was  quite  clear,  meanwhile,  and 
his  one  anxiety  was  that  no  blame  should  be  attached 
to  his  unfortunate  servant.  As  they  moved  slowly  on 
their  way  he  begged  repeatedly  that  every  one  would 
be  kind  to  the  man  and  comfort  him.  "  If  I  die  before 
the  family  arrive  from  Holkham,"  he  said,  i 'they  are  to 
be  told  this  was  my  great  wish." 

The  farm  was  reached  at  last,  but  Lord  Andover 
could  not  bear  the  pain  of  being  carried  upstairs,  so  a 
bed  was  arranged  for  him  in  the  parlour  ;  and  even 
when  the  terrible  faintness  somewhat  diminished,  he  re- 
fused to  allow  himself  to  be  moved,  for  fear  he  should 
bleed  to  death  before  his  wife  could  arrive.  The 
servant  had  been  dispatched  to  Holkham  with  all  haste 
to  take  the  news,  and  to  tell  Lady  Andover  and  the 
family  to  come  without  delay. 

Lady  Andover,  meanwhile,  had  been  passing  a 
time  of  wretched  disquietude ;  and  at  length,  unable 
to  bear  the  suspense  any  longer,  she  dressed  and  went 
out,  hoping  to  meet  Lord  Andover  returning  home,  or 
possibly  to  hear  the  sounds  of  shooting  which  might 
enable  her  to  find  him.  It  was  a  beautiful  afternoon, 
and  she  cut  across  the  crisp  grass  in  the  park,  walking 
quickly,  and  listening  as  she  went  for  the  report  of 


1800]  A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT  443 

guns  in  the  still  air.  Suddenly  she  heard  a  clatter  of 
horse's  hoofs  approaching  at  full  speed  up  the  drive, 
and  turning,  she  saw  the  servant  on  her  favourite 
horse,  Baroness,  galloping  madly  towards  the  house. 
Her  first  thought  was:  4 'How  angry  Lord  Andover 
would  be  if  he  could  see  that  man  riding  Baroness  in 
such  a  manner"  ;  her  next  was :  "Something  has  hap- 
pened!" As  the  man  caught  sight  of  her  he  turned 
his  horse,  and  coming  towards  her,  he  cried  out:  "I 
have  killed  my  lord  !  the  kindest  and  best  master  that 
ever  lived  !  "x 

In  an  extraordinarily  short  space  of  time  Lady 
Andover  had  reached  the  farm,  where  the  rest  of  the 
family  followed  later.  She  found  Lord  Andover  lying 
in  the  state  the  servant  had  described  to  her,  and  he 
greeted  her  with  the  words  :  "  Dear,  your  dream  has 
come  true  ! "  From  the  first  the  doctors  pronounced 
his  case  to  be  hopeless,  the  shot  having  penetrated  one 
lung.  Yet  his  voice  was  strong  and  his  mind  remained 
clear  to  the  last,  while  he  met  his  fate  with  unflinching 
courage.  He  repeatedly  begged  the  people  of  the 
house  to  pray  for,  and  with  him.  He  lingered  from 
1.30  on  Wednesday  8th,  when  the  accident  happened, 
till  about  the  same  hour  on  Friday  10th.2  Lady 
Andover  never  left  his  bedside,  and  he  died  in  her 
arms.  He  was  only  twenty-four  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  she  being  thus  left  a  widow  at  twenty-three  ; 
and  the  tragedy  was  heightened  by  the  fact  of  their 
intense  devotion  to  each  other.  It  is  said  that  in  her 
great  grief  Lady  Andover's  beauty  was  intensified. 

1  Gentleman  s  Magazine  (1800),  Vol.  I,  p.  94. 

2  One  account  says  he  lingered  till  the  12th. 


444  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1800 

She  is  reported  to  have  possessed  the  rare  gift  of  being 
able  to  weep  without  any  facial  disfigurement ;  the 
large  tears  used  to  well  slowly  in  her  beautiful  eyes, 
and  fall,  without  causing  any  of  the  unbecoming 
symptoms  in  which  weeping  usually  results,  so  that 
her  distress  only  enhanced  her  loveliness. 

The  body  was  put  in  a  coffin  on  the  12th,  and  was 
subsequently  removed  in  a  coach-and-six  to  Tittleshall 
for  burial  on  the  20th.  It  was  borne  to  the  vault  by 
sixteen  tenants,  specially  selected  by  Coke ;  but  it 
was  placed  in  the  opposite  part  of  the  vault  to  that 
occupied  by  members  of  the  Coke  family.  It  seems 
curious  that  it  should  not  have  been  taken  to  Lord  An- 
dover's  home  for  burial,  and  a  strange  notice  in  the 
Gentleman's  Magazine  states  that  "  his  father  was  not 
anxious  to  convey  the  corpse  to  Wiltshire,  his  only 
request  was  that  it  should  be  privately  and  respectably 
buried." 

As  to  the  unfortunate  man  who  had  caused  the 
disaster,  he  wandered  about  for  days,  refusing  all  con- 
solation, and  it  was  feared  that  he  would  go  out  of  his 
mind  ;  but,  as  Lord  Andover  had  requested,  he  met 
with  nothing  save  kindness  from  the  family  at  Holk- 
ham,  and  was  never  blamed  for  the  sorrow  he  had  so 
unwittingly  caused. 

But  the  note  of  tragedy  with  which  this  year  of  1800 
had  been  ushered  in  was  destined  to  be  prolonged. 

Only  three  months  after  Lord  Andover's  death,  we 
learn  that  Mrs.  Coke  was  seriously  ill.  Of  what  this 
illness  consisted  there  is  now  no  record,  but  on  April 
23rd  Windham  mentions  in  his  diary  how  he  was 
writing  to  Coke:  "Who  I  am  afraid  is  ill,  as  Mrs. 


i8oo]  A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT  445 

Coke  is,  dangerously."  Later,  apparently,  she  went 
to  Bath  for  her  health,  and  there  she  died  on  June  2nd, 
at  the  age  of  forty-seven.  Again,  Windham  happens 
to  chronicle  the  event.  He  arrived  at  Bath  on  the  day 
of  her  death,  and  wrote  to  Mrs.  Crewe  the  following 
day:  "As  if  all  were  to  be  melancholy  on  our  arrival 
here,  the  answer  I  received  upon  a  message  sent  to 
inquire  [at  the  hotel]  after  Mrs.  Coke  was  that  she  had 
died  a  few  hours  before.  .  .  .  This  loss  .  .  .  involves 
in  it  much  that  one  had  been  in  the  habit  of  contem- 
plating with  satisfaction,  and  from  which,  at  different 
times,  part  of  my  own  happiness  had  been  derived."1 

In  the  papers  we  read  that,  a  fortnight  later,  on 
June  16th,  the  funeral  took  place  at  Tittleshall  "of  the 
virtuous  and  most  beloved  wife  of  Mr.  Coke,  the  body 
having  been  brought  by  slow  stages  from  Bath."  Lord 
Sherborne,  her  brother,  and  Tom  Anson,  her  son-in- 
law,  are  mentioned  as  being  present  at  the  vault,  where, 
less  than  six  months  before,  the  body  of  her  other 
son-in-law  had  been  laid  to  rest. 

With  her  perished  the  companionship,  the  sympathy 
and  the  affection  which  had  been  the  mainstay  of  Coke's 
happiness  during  the  best  years  of  his  life.  In  his  first 
romantic,  boyish  love  for  the  beautiful  Jane  Dutton,  his 
judgment  had  not  been  at  fault.  That  she  was  a  woman 
of  exceptional  charm  and  superior  intellect  we  have 
seen  ;  that  she  proved  a  wife  who  could  enter  into  his 
temperament,  further  his  schemes  and  promote  his 
interests — both  socially  and  in  the  world  of  active 
labour  in  which  his  soul  delighted — we  have  also  had 
evidence.    That  she  never  lived  to  reap,  with  him,  the 

1  Windham' s  Diary  >  pp.  426-7. 


446   COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1800 

just  measure  of  his  reward  in  the  full  comprehension 
and  gratitude  of  his  generation  is  to  be  regretted  ;  so 
also  is  it  to  be  regretted  that,  her  personality  being 
what  it  was,  the  only  records  of  it  which  have  survived 
are  scanty  and  unsatisfying.  Compared,  indeed,  with 
what  is  known  of  other  lives  of  a  date  no  more  remote, 
her  entire  existence,  like  the  record  of  her  early  years 
at  Holkham,  remains  almost  legendary  ;  while  of  more 
intimate  little  personal  relics,  two  only  appear  to  be 
preserved.  One  of  these  is  a  letter  in  doggerel  verses 
written  by  her  to  her  sister  when  a  child,  which  is  kept 
at  Sherborne  ;  and  the  other,  a  long  thick  lock  of  hair, 
found  at  Cannon  Hall1 — hair  whose  gold  is  still  of  a 
wonderful  hue  and  brilliancy,  although  the  head  on 
which  it  once  grew  has  been  lying  in  the  grave  for  over 
a  century. 

But  the  pictures  which  remain  to  perpetuate  her 
beauty  are  three  in  number.  One,  the  picture  by 
Zoffany,  at  Sherborne,  already  referred  to,  a  portrait 
of  her  in  the  proud,  somewhat  cold  loveliness  of  her 
girlhood  ;  another,  a  pastel  at  Cannon  Hall,  which 
has  all  the  grace  of  a  Reynolds,  a  portrait  of  her  as 
a  young  matron,  more  stately  than  in  her  girlhood 
days,  more  radiant  in  beauty  and  happiness ;  with 
powdered  curls  framing  her  charming  face,  and  a  fichu 
which  leaves  revealed  her  beautiful  neck  and  arms,  while 
beside  her,  in  quaint,  white  dresses  down  to  their  heels, 
are  her  two  children,  Jane  and  Ann.2  The  third  por- 
trait is  by  Barber,  and  belongs  to  a  far  later  date.  In 

1  The  Yorkshire  seat  of  Sir  Walter  Spencer  Stanhope,  K.C.B. 

2  This  portrait,  and  also  that  of  Lady  Hunloke,  reproduced  in  the 
present  volume,  are  said  to  have  been  painted  by  a  French  artist,  whose 
name  is  now  lost ;  but  many  believe  them  to  be  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 


i8oo]  A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT  447 

it,  the  powdered  locks  are  replaced  by  hair  which  is 
turning  a  natural  grey,  the  brilliancy  of  her  complexion 
is  gone  ;  she  looks  older,  more  pale,  more  grave,  but 
still  we  see  the  same  sweetness  of  expression,  the  same 
delicacy  of  feature,  the  same  winning  grace  ;  and  so 
she  smiles  at  us  across  the  century  a  charming, 
gracious  presence,  a  true  woman,  a  fitting  mate  of  the 
man  whom  she  married. 

Dr.  Parr,  who  considered  that  no  greater  honour 
could  befall  any  man  than  that  he  should  compose  an 
epitaph  on  that  man's  decease,  wrote  an  epitaph  on  the 
death  of  Mrs.  Coke,  which  is  described  in  his  Life  as 
the  best  ever  written  by  him.  The  original  appears  to 
be  lost,  but  Dr.  Parr  forwarded  it  to  Fox,  who,  on 
December  23rd,  1801,  replied: — 

"  I  received  a  few  days  since  your  letter  with  its 
enclosure.  I  do  assure  you  without  compliment  we 
admire  the  epitaph  to  the  greatest  degree.  Words 
could  not  have  been  more  happily  chosen  to  describe 
a  pious  and  domestic  woman  with  a  cultivated  under- 
standing and  an  affectionate  heart "  ;  and  he  proceeds 
to  criticise  with  great  care  and  thought,  whether  each 
word  and  phrase  is  strictly  appropriate.  "  Perhaps," 
he  concludes  his  long  letter  apologetically,  i '  my 
general  taste  leads  me  rather  to  feel  faults  of  this 
side  too  nicely,  and  to  overlook  proportionately  those 
of  negligence  or  carelessness.  You  see  I  criticise 
freely,  and  always  expect  my  friends  to  do  the  same 
by  me  ! " 

But  the  epitaph  which  was  put  up  to  Mrs.  Coke's 
memory  in  the  church  at  Tittleshall  where  she  was 
buried,  in  its  touching  simplicity  and  the  quiet  sorrow 


448  COKE  OF  NORFOLK  &  HIS  FRIENDS  [1800 

which  it  reveals,  appears  to  have  been  written  by 
Coke  himself.  And  even  making  allowance  for  the 
flattering  nature  of  epitaphs  at  that  period,  it  contains 
a  very  just  estimate  of  a  character  which  charmed  all 
who  came  in  contact  with  it. 

SACRED  TO  THE  MEMORY 

of  Jane,  Wife  of  Thomas  William  Coke  Esquire  of  Holkham 
in  the  County  of  Norfolk,  and  daughter  of  James  Lennox  Dutton  Esquire 
of  Shireborne  in  the  County  of  Gloucester. 
She  was  born  at  Shireborne  November  29th  1753,  and  was  married  there  October  25th  1775 
and  died  at  Bath  June  2d  1800,  leaving  three  daughters.    Jane  Elizabeth, 
widow  of  Charles  Nevison,  Viscount  Andover,  eldest  son  of  the  Earl  of  Suffolk, 
Anne  Margaret,  wife  of  Thomas  Anson  Esquire  of  Shugborough  in  the 
County  of  Stafford.    And  Elizabeth  Wilhelmina  Coke. 

Munificent  without  profusion  and  charitable  without  ostentation  ; 
Calm  and  unassuming  in  the  ordinary  offices  of  social  life.    But  inflexible 
and  unwearied  in  the  discharge  of  all  its  nobler  and  more  arduous  duties, 
Mrs.  Coke  deserved  and  obtained  the  love  of  equals,  the  respect  of  inferiors 
the  attachment  of  domestics,  the  gratitude  of  the  poor,  the  unfeigned  esteem 
of  every  acquaintance,  and  the  steady  confidence  of  every  friend  : 
Her  reverence  towards  God  was  accompanied  by  such  benevolence  towards  mankind 
that  religion  seemed  to  reside  in  the  sanctuary  of  her  heart ;  and  saintly  were 

the  virtues  which  adorned  her  conjugal  and  parental  character. 
He,  by  whom  this  monument  is  erected,  will  never  cease  to  revere  her  memory 
and  it  is  the  fervent  wish  of  his  soul,  that,  by  endeavouring  to  imitate  her  example 
himself  and  his  children  may  become  worthy  to  meet  her  again  at  the  last  day, 
and  be  partakers  with  her  of  the  glory  which  shall  be  revealed 
to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect. 

Above  this,  Coke  caused  a  most  beautiful  monument 
to  be  erected,  the  execution  of  which  was  entrusted  to 
Nollekens  at  a  cost  of  £3000.  Its  composition  and 
workmanship  are  exceptionally  fine,  and  it  has  a  special 
interest,  since  the  principal  figure  is  at  once  a  statue 
of  Mrs.  Coke  and  of  Lady  Andover.  The  latter  was 
pronounced  by  Nollekens — as  by  others — to  be  the 
living  representation  of  Mrs.  Coke,  and  since  he  could 
not  wish  for  a  more  exact  model,  she  consented,  during 
the  first  sad  months  of  her  own  widowhood,  to  sit  for  the 
statue  of  her  dead  mother.    To  this  must  be  attributed 


i8oo]  A  DUAL  BEREAVEMENT  449 

a  certain  wistful  sadness  which  has  crept  into  the  face 
of  the  figure,  as  she  stands  with  gaze  upraised  towards 
a  hovering  angel,  while  Love,  seated  at  her  feet,  holds 
up  a  flaming  heart.  The  pose  of  the  statue  is  beautiful 
and  lifelike,  and  the  lovely  upturned  face,  with  its 
small,  exquisite  features,  is  the  face  of  Jane  Dutton  in 
the  days  of  her  girlhood. 

Coke  was  thus  left  alone  with  his  youngest  daughter, 
Eliza,  who  was  at  this  time  just  five  years  old.  She 
forthwith  became  the  object  of  his  tenderest  care,  as 
she  remained  throughout  his  life  that  of  his  deepest 
affection.  "  My  beloved  daughter,  the  comfort  of  my 
life,"  he  calls  her  in  1809,  when  writing  to  Dr.  Parr. 
She  was,  however,  brought  up  on  the  same  system  as 
her  sisters  had  been,  that  of  a  complete  absence  of 
luxury,  of  simple  food  and  hardy  habits  ;  until,  at  the 
age  of  eighteen,  she  left  the  schoolroom  to  become 
mistress  of  Holkham. 


END  OF  VOL.  I 


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